Irreconcilable Differences
by barry effin gibb
Summary: Twelve years ago, Randy Orton left his high school sweetheart behind to go to the military. Now he's one of the biggest stars in the WWE - what happens when she comes back into his life? And how will Sam take the reunion?
1. Facebook Statuses

Irreconcilable Differences  
>chapter one:<br>Your Life is a Flashback

_Author's note:  
>Another new story. ;) Just a short chapter to make it awesome, get it done you guys.<br>_

* * *

><p>He always knew that if he went home to St. Louis, after the happiness of returning to his family drained away, his thoughts would go back to <em>her<em>. He would be sitting in the living room watching Alanna start to run around the house, half-listening to the television and holding his wife Samantha in his arms when she'd enter his thoughts. Every time he would touch Sam's skin, he'd imagine that it was her's; pretend that he hadn't left her behind to make it in the world.

Randy didn't know why he hadn't been wise enough to just take her with him. Have a quick marriage ceremony before he was shipped to boot camp. Have her live on the base with him. He sighed and let his hand run up and down Sam's arm silently. These were the thoughts he had whenever he came back to Missouri.

He would secretly wonder where she was, what she had done with her life since he moved off and made it. Whenever he closed his eyes he would see her face when he told her that he'd be joining the Marine Corps. The face that said she would go with him, anywhere.

_"Let me go with you, Randers," _she had said. He smirked at the use of his nickname.

Randy bit his lip and opened his eyes when Sam spoke beside him. He simply nodded his head, knowing she often asked yes or no questions ranging from, "does spaghetti sound good for dinner?" or "did you have a good flight?". Little to no details were needed when he spoke to Sam now-a-days which was good. When Sam left him, he looked down at the little girl who was coloring in a book on the floor. She was splayed out like her crayons – rolling around every few moments as if giving herself a break from the tedious color job.

He gave a soft smile to the girl who gave a toothy grin to her father. Alanna dropped her crayon and jumped into her Daddy's lap, hugging him tight.

These were the moments when he felt most guilty for thinking about his ex. When he held his daughter who was made with Samantha and he out of "love". Randy refused to admit that he was getting older and didn't want to be a fifty year old father who would be going to take pictures of her daughter's prom night. Randy blinked and let his hand play with one of the pig-tails of blonde hair Alanna had for the day.

"I missed Daddy," Alanna informed.

He smiled and kissed her temple, "I missed Alanna," he said. "I did, I'm happy I got to come home for a day or two."

When she squirmed out of his grasp, Randy watched as she toddled off to help Sam with dinner. This was his chance. He stood up and stretched, "Baby, I'm going to go in the garage real quick," he nodded.

Randy was out in the garage before Sam could have answered. He pulled his iPhone out of his back pocket of his jeans, opened up the web browser and sighed. He reached over to the work bench as the page loaded, taking a pack of cigarettes in his hand and pulling one out. As he watched the Facebook page open, he lit it and stuck it in between his lips. He only smoked when he was home – it was a stress reliever... and a reason to go and be alone.

His fingers expertly typed in her name into the search box and he took in a deep breath. He had done this about seven times a month – just looking up her profile and seeing if anything had changed. He had seen her go through a few relationships in the past year – but she never named names.

When her status would change from "in a relationship" to "single", Randy always debated whether or not he should contact her and catch up. But with Sam in the mix, along with Alanna, it was never a viable option.

Her profile picture greeted him. She was just as beautiful as she was when he saw her last. Her blonde hair curled and going down her back. She was laughing in the picture which showed Randy that she was happy with the life she was living. He scrolled through the page and raised an eyebrow. She had moved.

Her hometown was St. Charles, Missouri – where he was living currently with his family. But now her city was San Diego, California. If he remembered correctly, she did have family in San Diego – maybe she had moved out to help her elderly grandmother who was alone. He was tempted to text her and see if it was alright. But he knew it wasn't wise.

He knew it would open a can of worms – a can that he wasn't ready to open. Yet.

Randy looked at her recent status updates, some saying she would be at the beach all day and if someone needed her, they could call her. Her updates were numerous and gave Randy a sense of calm. She was safe and alright, no matter where she was. He just wanted to make sure that after all he had done to her that she was alright.

He always wondered if she thought of him the way he had been thinking of her lately.

Two days ago would have been their ten year anniversary if they had stayed together.

He silently read each status update before spotting the one that made his jaw drop.

_I think of him everyday – but when I see him now – he's not mine. He's hers... and they look so happy. I miss my best friend._

He was tempted to call her, to comment on the status, to like her status – but there was a sound that came from the side.

"Randy? Dinner's ready," Sam said with a smile.

Randy bit his bottom lip and nodded, walking into his lie of a life yet again.  
>-<p>

_Just a start, guys. I know it's short but I'd like to think that it is enough to get you into it. Right? Three reviews, possibly? I mean, let's see how interesting this could be huh? Yes, Randy's an ex-Marine – if you didn't know that already. Haha, I like the Randy in the military – it's awesome. And sexy. Enjoy you guys. _


	2. Back to Black

**Irreconcilable Differences  
>by barry effin gibb<br>chapter two;  
>Back to Black<br>**

**[Author's Note:  
>Hey you guys, Ashley here! I'm so sorry I've been so spacy when it comes to my stories. I know I'm really slacking! But I wanted to update <em>this <em>story because I feel like it's the one I can do the _most_ with. Authors, you understand. Haha, I wanted to apologise for a mistake I wrote in the first chapter – in order for this timeline to work out – with Randy going to the military, that makes him eighteen. Now that he's thirty-one, that won't work. It's going on _twelve_ years between their relationship. So, enjoy and run with it. 3 See you at the end!]**

There was a sick sense of regret in the twenty-nine year old's stomach as she walked with her eleven year old son through the arena in San Diego, California. The WWE had been coming through town and she had thought it would be a good present to give him for his twelfth birthday that was coming up in a couple weeks. With the tickets being the main part of the present, she had decided the other part of the present would be to get him a shirt from the merchandise stand just outside of their section. The blonde sighed and let her hands rest on her son's shoulders, guiding him through the rather crazed group of fans to see the array of t-shirts.

Each one was so bright and intense, shirts for Kofi Kingston made her eyes hurt while t-shirts for Zack Ryder made her laugh. They were there for Smackdown and the woman knew that the superstars who's merchandise was on the tables and on the wall would make an appearance for the night. But Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston and Sheamus weren't the reason that Natalie Oaks felt sick to her stomach.

"Oh man, Mom!" Carter said with a sense of excitement that made her nerves wash away and forced a smile on her lips. "Orton's shirt looks so cool! Can I get that one?"

* * *

><p><em>[twelve years earlier]<em>

_"Don't go without me," Natalie cried with a frown, her lips quivering as she watched Randy quickly start to pack his duffel bags. Randy had signed up for the delayed entry program, already being enrolled in the Marines by the time he graduated. Being a year younger than Randy, Natalie would be forced to stay in Missouri – unable to leave high school and follow him. Even though she wanted to._

_"I have to go," Randy's voice, so deep and so serious, spoke. "Nat, you knew this day would come."_

_"I never thought that you would actually leave me behind..."_

_Randy's lips pressed against her's and she closed her eyes, trying to give as much passion and love into the kiss. She didn't know when she would see Randy next, she would miss him every single day. "I love you," he whispered. "Forever."_

_Natalie nodded. "I love you, so much..." she whispered back. "Forever."_

* * *

><p>"Mom! Mom! Hello?" Carter said annoyed, his hand waving in her face.<p>

Natalie blinked a few times and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Go ahead, tell the lady what you want," she said, reaching into her black leather purse and digging out a teal wallet with a bright zebra patterned flower on the front.

Not truly paying attention as to what Carter ordered, she handed her credit card over and sighed, watching as it was swiped. Praying to God that it would clear, Natalie breathed a sigh of relief that it went through, the receipt slowly printing and waiting to be signed. Natalie signed her name and handed the receipt and pen back, getting a Randy Orton t-shirt and a key-chain that had RKO carved on it.

"What is this?" she asked.

"A birthday present to you!" Carter said.

"My birthday isn't until Christmas," Natalie smirked to her son.

Carter grinned a toothy grin. "I'm six months early! I'm the best son in the world."

Deciding not to tell Carter she had bought it with her own money, she kissed his forehead and walked with him to their seats.

* * *

><p>Something was different about this show, he could just feel it. They were in San Diego and Randy had been thinking non-stop about what this feeling could be. It wasn't that Rey Mysterio was missing out on the first trip to the 619 since the draft – and it wasn't that there were any notable celebrities in the crowd. Randy just felt... nervous.<p>

And Randy never got nervous.

He sighed, grabbing his bottle of baby oil and squeezed some out onto his palm – taking care to put the right amount and not to look like an oil slick. Sam always had a snarky comment when he got too oily when the show would play on Friday nights. He rolled his eyes – Sam. He hadn't talked to her since he left home two weeks ago and honestly, it was a reprieve.

But, every time he thought of leaving Sam, that little pair of blue eyes that belonged to Alanna stopped him in his tracks. He loved Alanna and could never separate himself from her mother. No matter how much he dreaded being around her.

Randy sighed and rubbed his body down, taking the time to massage his legs and thighs before wiping his hands on a towel beside his bag. Once he finished his routine, he sat down and grabbed his iPhone – opening up the web browser and taking a deep breath. Might as well check in with her, see how she was doing, right? Especially when she was so close to him, yet so far away.

He typed in her name with a bit of excitement – he hadn't checked her profile since he was home in Missouri – which was odd.

Randy's eyes widened when he saw that she had a status update only moments ago from her mobile phone. He read intently.

_Happy almost birthday to Carter! We've got third row seats to Smackdown! He's got his gear and he's ready to go!  
><em>

That was it.

He was nervous because Natalie was in the crowd. Three rows out from the ring.

His hands started to shake and his iPhone fell to the ground, shattering the screen.

* * *

><p>"Man, Mom! I can't believe you got me these tickets! Do you think Dad would've liked this?" Carter screamed from their seats as Tony Chimel started to climb into the ring. The entire arena grew louder as Chimel started to announce the rules of the taping. He told the fans that they were giving their rights to be filmed and they all cheered in agreement.<p>

Natalie frowned as she thought about what her son had said. She had never told her son who his father was – she never really found it important. And he wouldn't believe her anyway. He made a game of making a father up in his head – saying things that he thought his dad would like or wouldn't like.

"What do you think?" Natalie asked slowly and watched as Carter simply nodded.

"Welcome to Smackdown!" he called into the microphone and Carter stood up on his chair, cheering loud – having put his Randy Orton t-shirt over his old John Cena shirt. Of course he knew that Cena was on the other brand but he still wanted to "show Cena that he cared".

Natalie let her fingers lace with each other and smiled as she watched Carter react as Christian's music hit. He booed intensely and screamed as Christian passed their seats to get to the steel steps, "That's Randy's belt, you thief!"

The blonde laughed and watched her son – remembering the first time that Carter was watching wrestling. She never really watched it, she'd flip from time to time, never knowing that Randy had left the military and gone into the business. She knew that his dad was a wrestler but it was never a career option when Randy and her were growing up. Natalie bit her lip and thought back to when she first heard Randy's name on the television.

* * *

><p><em>[Five years earlier.]<em>

_"Carter, here's your ice cream, come get it," Natalie said with a nod of her head from the small kitchen in their sixth story apartment off of Main Street in St. Charles, Missouri._

_"Hold on Mom! John Cena's going to fight some random guy! I have to see who it is!"_

_Natalie looked over the counter to see her son sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the television. She had never seen a six year old so into a television show. She walked out of the kitchen with Carter's bowl of ice cream and looked as she saw a buff and muscular man in cargo shorts and a black t-shirt come to the ring and hand over his title belt and dog tags._

_"Who's that?" she asked._

_Carter looked as if she had three heads. "That's John Cena! He's amazing! I wanna grow up to be like him!"_

_Natalie nodded, her arms at her side as she heard another song flood the television._

_"Hey! Nothing you can say! Nothing's gonna change what you've done to me."_

_The woman on television spoke into her mic from the center of the ring._

_"And making his way to the ring, the challenger. From St. Louis, Missouri weighing in at two-hundred and twenty-seven pounds, Randy Orton!"_

_Natalie dropped the ice cream and watched as it slowly sunk into the carpet much to the dismay of her son. Her hand went to her mouth and she was shocked._

_"That's Randy Orton – he's the bad guy."_

_She looked at her son and bit her lip. "I know."_

* * *

><p>"Mom! You're missing everything!" Carter whined and Natalie was then snapped out of her trance. Her eyes looked up and she saw Christian in the middle of the ring, his belt on his shoulder as he spoke ill about Randy.<p>

"Randy Orton needs to realize that rematches don't grow on trees, and that if he wants this belt," Christian said, hoisting it up. "He's gonna go to the back of the line and - "

But that was when a theme song hit and Natalie looked confused, spotting green on the titan tron.

"Triple H!" Carter yelled, jumping up and down. "Oh my God!"

"Carter!" Natalie warned.

"Oh my gosh!" Carter corrected and screamed, "Oh my gosh! Mom! That's Triple H!"

"Alright," Natalie nodded, looking down to her cell phone, seeing a notification from Facebook. She was about to check it when a pair of teenagers moved past, going to their seats – her hand pushing her phone back in her pocket.

Triple H came into the ring and spoke, "Christian, you'd better think twice before you say that rematches don't grow on trees. I'm confused, I guess," he said. "Because how many times did you get against Orton before you won this baby?" he asked, hitting the belt.

Natalie's head snapped up at the mention of Randy's name. Was he coming out soon?

Carter was one of the many cheering "RKO" over and over. Carter was a fan of Randy since he became the good guy when he went against the Legacy at Wrestlemania two years ago. Natalie had a huge fan in her family – if only he knew...

Natalie bit her lip and watched as Christian continued to run his mouth about Randy and his anger issues. Natalie knew the anger issues and was surprised that Randy allowed the WWE to use that in his character. She tried to brace herself, tried to leave Carter to "go to the bathroom" or something but it was too late.

_I hear voices in my head, they council me, they understand, they talk to me._

Natalie bit down on her lip hard, so hard she feared there would be the iron taste of blood in her mouth seconds later. It never came, but he did.

She looked up at the ramp and saw Randy – his eyes straight ahead and staring at the three men in the ring. He slowly walked down the ramp, the arena erupting in a loud cheer for the Viper. She frowned and watched, her hands sliding into her pockets to avoid someone seeing them shake. Her knees trembled and beside her, Carter was yelling so loud she was shocked.

"Randy! Oh my gosh! Randy! You're my hero!" he was screaming. She felt nervous and watched as Randy walked past them and looked to the steel steps.

And then, Randy slowly turned his head to where she and Carter were standing.

And their eyes locked.

Then Natalie went numb.

* * *

><p>"That was <em>awesome<em>!" Carter yelled as he held his mom's hand, walking out to the car. She was glad that her son had a lot of fun but she seriously could not shake that look that Randy had given her. Had he recognized her? "And then when Randy looked at us?" he groaned. "So cool!"

"And then when Randy gave an RKO to Christian and pinned him for like, ten seconds but the ref was knocked out?" Carter gushed. "Man! I wish it were my birthday all the time!"

Natalie smirked gently and ruffled his chocolate brown hair, kissing his forehead. "I'm glad you had fun, Champ."

"Mom! Thank you so much!" he said.

Natalie nodded her head and looked around for a second – the parking lot was pretty close to deserted thanks to her choice to wait at the seats after the show and watch them destroy the ring. She yawned and let her hands fish for her car keys in her purse before jumping at Carter's scream.

"MOM!" Carter said, "That's Sheamus! Can I go get his autograph?"

Natalie looked up and saw Sheamus across the lot with a few people around him signing things. "Um," she said. "If you hurry, yeah. Run! I'm behind ya," she nodded. And with that, Carter booked it across the parking lot, Natalie slowly walking in her black ballet flats.

She watched Carter as he forced his way to the front of the line, handing his program to Sheamus. She could hear Sheamus call him "fella" and say, "well then, happy birthday lad!" before climbing onto a tour bus.

When she got there, she heard Carter speaking to a few of the straggling fans who were waiting for other opportunities to get autographs.

"Randy's the only one left," a man to her left said to Carter. He had a two year old daughter on his shoulders and she seemed to be on the brink of sleep. She smiled gently and looked at Carter.

"Do you wanna wait? Or go home?" she asked.

Carter gasped, "Are you kidding?" he begged. "I wanna stay for Randy! Please? Maybe we can get a picture?"

Natalie sighed and nodded, "Okay."

"Good luck kid," some fat bald man said with a scoff. "Randy Orton's one of the hardest guys to get to sign for you, especially here."

"Whatever!" Carter said with a shrug. "Dude, you should have seen it. He stared at my mom for like, two minutes before he went in the ring and yelled at Christian," he said as if it were the defining factor.

"I don't think he'd remember me after that one time," Natalie tried to calm her son down.

"We'll just see," the man said sarcastically. "Let's see if he knows your mom."

Randy zipped up his fleece jacket and yawned, his duffel bag draped over his shoulder. He would ride in a rental car thanks to some WWE staffer and get dropped off at the hotel – he was so exhausted and just trying to replay the moment where he stared into Natalie's brown eyes just one more time.

"Neil, how are you man?" Randy asked as the staffer opened the trunk of the car for Randy. He smirked and listened as the man, who Randy had gotten to know very well over the last few years, spoke about his family. Randy got into the passenger's seat of the car and smiled once Neil was finished. "Man, that's so awesome your son got into Duke. One hell of a school."

Neil slowly started the car and eased off the brake, pulling out of the gates and starting to pass the small crowd. He went to wave but saw Natalie again and he almost froze. "Neil! Stop the car," he said.

"Randy, are you sure?"

"Stop!" he said with a bit more force than he would have liked. Neil slammed the brakes and Randy unbuckled his seat belt, getting out of the car and walking to the crowd who was now going crazy. "Anyone have a pen?" he asked.

Carter threw his hand out and yelled, "I do!"

Natalie watched and bit her bottom lip, staring at Randy who was actually focusing on him.

Randy looked at the boy who handed him a sharpie and nodded, "Thanks, little man," he said – taking the pen and starting to sign everyone's autographs before telling them that was all for the night. When they slowly dispersed, he looked back to Carter and spoke. "Man, you've got a nice shirt."

Carter grinned, "Thanks, Randy! You were my least favorite when I was a kid-"

"How old are you?" Randy asked with a grin.

"Eleven! But I'm turning twelve in a few weeks, this is my birthday present," Carter said before looking to Natalie and giving a thumbs up. "I was a Cena fan but man, you're so much better Viper!"

Natalie gave a small laugh and that was when Randy finally let his eyes travel up to look at her.

He eyed her up like he eyed up Christian that night – before a small smile graced his lips.

"Natalie," he whispered and Carter's eyes bugged out. "It's been way too long."

* * *

><p><strong>[Author's note;<br>Hey! :) I made it super long for you. :D I hope you liked it. I really wanted to get Carter right, I think he's mainly like ME when I used to go to Monday Night Raw and house shows. But yeah! I hope you like Natalie and Carter, they're gonna have a bit more description and a few chapters of their relationship before we get them both with Randy. ;)  
>Anyone wanna guess what's going down in this story? ;)<br>All I'm gonna say is that I'm really liking where this is going. 3 Enjoy.  
>FOUR REVIEWS for such an EPICLY LONG CHAPTER? ;)<br>I love you all so much!  
>Love, love, love.<br>Ashley.]**


	3. Don't Wanna Go Home

Irreconcilable Differences  
>by barry effin gibb<br>chapter three;  
>Don't Wanna Go Home<p>

[**Author's note;  
>hey guys! I just thought I'd stop by and say thanks for the reviews. And seriously, I told you – once I got back into my mojo, I'd be posting all of the time. ;) Get happy, girls... and men. Well, then. Aha, I'm gonna post this, the THIRD chapter of the Randy x Natalie story. I hope you've taken a second to look at the icon – the girl that is playing Natalie is <strong>_**Dianna Agron – **_**because she's gorgeous and look at them on that banner. :D Okay. So I'm gonna write this. Keep up, there's flash backs and all of that. ;)]**

* * *

><p>The conversation between him and Natalie was brief and simple – just telling each other that it was nice to see each other and that they should get together the next time Randy was in town. He had watched her intently – something was about her – even to this day, she made him breathless. And that kid just made him smile and want to talk to them even more. After about three minutes and exchanging phone numbers, Randy climbed back in the Escalade and watched as Neil drove off.<p>

He was now in the hotel room, his left hand holding the phone number on the corner of Carter's program and his right holding his iPhone. He had to do it, he had to do _something_– he didn't want another twelve years to go past again before he could see Natalie, the first girl he ever loved.

Randy sighed and looked to his phone, seeing "Sam" and their wedding song "Fix You" by Coldplay flooded the speakers. Rolling his eyes, Randy slid the bar over and answered.

"Hey, baby," he said. "I know. I miss you too."

Lie after lie, after lie, Randy spoke to the woman who once warmed his heart – watching the minutes tick by until he could call the one who still did.

"Mom!" Carter tried again for the seventeenth time since he had gotten in the car with Natalie. "What was that about?" he begged, almost desperate.

"What was what about?" she asked, her hands tight on the steering wheel as she got off the exit ramp of the highway and went left towards their home.

Carter groaned, "How does Randy Orton know who you are?"

* * *

><p><em>[Graduation day, Hazelwood High School, 1998]<em>

_"Natalie, you can sit next to either me or Bob, whomever you'd like," Elaine Orton smiled warmly to her son's girlfriend of two years._

_Natalie and Randy had met on her first day of her freshman year at Hazelwood and the two hit it off from there. Honestly, it was cliche but Natalie wouldn't have had it any other way. They had been friends her entire freshman year, started dating that summer and now, Natalie was there to watch her boyfriend graduate from high school._

_Natalie sat in the auditorium, watching the graduates start to file in. When she saw Randy, she grinned and waved, blowing kisses at him which he caught and then slapped the side of his face – just a little joke that they had, their relationship was filled with inside jokes like that. The blond grinned and watched – sitting the entire ceremony, her eyes never leaving Randy, even though his back was to her._

_Randy had even told her after the ceremony he felt her watching him and he just wanted to make her proud._

_"I couldn't ever not be," she whispered as he picked her up, spinning her around and kissing her softly._

_"I'm done," he told her._

_Natalie grinned, "Now you get to wait for me."_

_"I'd wait forever and ever, babe."_

* * *

><p>"I don't <em>know<em> Randy Orton," she said with a bite of her lip.

"You're such a liar!" Carter whined. "Mom! Please, I won't tell anyone!"

Natalie rolled her eyes, right. Her son couldn't keep his mouth shut if he was paid a million dollars.

"I went to high school with him," she shrugged.

"What!" Carter yelled making Natalie jump. "How did that never come up?"

"I didn't think it mattered, the Randy Orton than _I _ know and the Randy Orton that _you_ know are two very different people," Natalie said truthfully.

Carter pressed his head against the window and she pouted her lips.

"Are you going to call him?" Carter asked and raised an eyebrow to his mom.

Natalie closed her eyes as they pulled up to their house. She looked over to him a moment later and sighed slowly, "Boys call girls, Carter. That's rule number one," she told him, ruffling his hair. "Go get in your pajamas, it's way past your bed time."

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Natalie was laying up in bed and seemed to be tossing and turning the entire night. Carter had gone to sleep after much procrastination – begging for everything – stories about his mom knowing Randy, to knowing how Randy really was and all of that. But Natalie ignored the request and tucked him in, walked out and now – now she was unable to relax and calm down.<p>

The adrenaline was intense. She saw his eyes every time she closed her's, she felt goosebumps as the covers would hit her and finally, she sat straight up in bed and turned on the lamp beside her bed. She wouldn't sleep tonight.

Exhausted, she reached for her phone and froze as the red light flashed on and off every two seconds. She bit down on her lip and saw that there was a text message from the St. Louis area code. "Oh my God," she whispered, pressing "view".

_From: 314-893-1071_

_Message: Natalie, it's Randy. I really wanted you to know how nice it was to see you. I really hope we can catch up. That kid is cute, what – was it bring your brother to Smackdown night?  
><em>

How could Natalie even answer that? How could she tell Randy that after he left, her life turned around completely. How could she even start?

She hit "reply" and froze, wondering what to tell Randy. She wanted to tell him that she missed him every day, that she wished that he had let her come with him... that she forgave him for all of the heartbreak he put her through – and that she wished that he had come to her sooner.

Natalie wasn't stupid – after she saw Randy on television that day with Carter, she had googled him. She had seen him go through some anger management issues in the WWE, saw that he was accused of steroid use and even accused of sexually harassing a WWE intern. She saw that he was dating a girl named Samantha Speno... and now, they were married with a little girl.

Natalie felt like an idiot, however, for ever thinking that she had found her soul mate in high school. That rarely happened, only in movies, right?

She bit down on her lip and raised an eyebrow, typing out a quick, "_You're right. It was nice to see you. And that's not my brother, that's my son."_

* * *

><p><em>[St. Louis, Missouri – 1999 – New Years Eve]<em>

_Their perfect life of "happiness" was slowly fading away. Natalie was getting ready to go to college at NYU and Randy was working at a gas station, currently AWOL in the Marines. They were growing further and further apart and honestly, Natalie didn't know how to fix it._

_Bob and Elaine, Randy's parents, had decided to go out and Randy's siblings all had plans for_

_the new year and the couple were laying in Randy's bed watching the festivities on the small television Randy had. His arm was wrapped around her bare shoulders and she let her hand rest on his stomach._

_"What do you see in our future?" Natalie blurted out as Dick Clark started to interview the Spice Girls who were about to perform._

_Randy looked over at her and pouted his lips, his strong jaw clenching slightly._

_"I don't know, Nat," he said softly. "I have to go back to the base sooner or later and handle whatever they throw at me. I don't know what I'm going to have to do," he told her truthfully. "And I don't really think that it's fair to make you wait here for me," Randy whispered._

_That's what Natalie didn't want to hear. No matter what Randy thought, Natalie would stay by his side for anything._

_"With you going to NYU, I don't want you to think that you have to answer to me back here," Randy told her. "I want to marry you and I want to have children with you, I want my life to be with yours, but I don't think it's in the cards for us," he whispered._

_Natalie blinked a few times, ridding her eyes of the tears that had showed up. "Okay... can you humor me, though?" she whispered._

_Randy watched the tears and felt responsible, his arms wrapping her closer to him, pulling her naked body on top of his and held her tight. "Okay, what do you want me to say?" he whispered gently, his hand stroking her hair._

_"If we had kids, what would you want to name them?" she asked. "I want to know," she told him._

_Randy smirked gently and rubbed her back. "Well, I'd let you name the girl cause I don't know anything about those types of names," Randy laughed. "But I like Owen," he whispered. "Maybe Carter, but yeah. Owen for Uncle Owen," he said – mentioning Owen Hart, one of the men his dad knew and practically was apart of the family._

_Natalie nodded her head and kissed his lips softly hearing the countdown to midnight. The girl sighed and rest her head on Randy's chest and fell asleep to the sound of his breathing._

* * *

><p>Randy had returned home to St. Louis on Thursday evening after having to do a house show then a few interviews. He walked in the house and let his bags drop by the door. "Daddy's home," he called out – picking up the mail that was left on the front table, flipping through bills and letters.<p>

Tiny footsteps ran towards him on the hardwood floor and Randy moved the mail up, seeing his daughter Alanna hugging his leg tight. Randy grinned and put the letters down, grabbing her and picking her up – holding her against his chest and smiling. "Mmm," he said. "Hi baby girl!"

"Daddy!" Alanna giggled. "I missed you this much!"

Her arms widened wide and Randy chuckled, walking through the house and finding Sam sitting on the couch, staring at an episode of Jersey Shore.

Randy watched her and let Alanna down, "Hey," he said shortly.

Alanna ran to her room and was screaming about how she got a new doll she had to show Daddy. Randy stared at Sam and raised an eyebrow.

"Hello?"

Sam looked up at Randy, "Hey. I didn't think that you got back until tomorrow," she said.

"Earlier flight," Randy explained then went on with what he was doing, ignoring Sam and spending all of his time with Alanna.

That night, Randy went to sleep on the couch and considered his options.

Because living this lie was starting to take it's toll on him.

Laying on the couch, Randy groaned and tried to get comfortable, his feet off the couch due to it's side. It would have been somewhat comical if he wasn't the one laying on the leather couch. He mumbled about having to spend five grand on a couch that he couldn't even lay on and checked his iPhone.

He had a text message – surprise surprise.

_From: 619-537-4402  
>You're right. It was nice to see you. And that's not my brother, that's my son.<em>

Her _son_?

When did Natalie have a son?

He had so many questions for her.

He sighed and saved her number quick – but put her in Nate, not wanting to get in trouble if nosy Sam decided to check his messages. He bit his lip and replied quick. Hopefully he'd get some answers in the morning.

* * *

><p>Natalie woke up the next morning with a few messages on her phone. One from her mother telling her that if she wanted to bring to Carter by later, she'd get him off her hands for a bit. One from her boss asking her to come in tomorrow morning an hour later due to the cut hours and then one from Randy – asking her <em>who's the dad? Lemme guess, that guy from high school you dated after I left? <em>

Natalie frowned and shook her head, telling Randy that if he wanted to know, he'd have to come and see her. Saying "we're not discussing this subject over text messages. I'm going back to St. Louis next week, we can talk then."

* * *

><p><strong>[AUTHOR'S NOTE;<strong>  
><strong>:D WHAT DO YOU THINK, HUH? I love Carter, I think he's gonna be my favorite part of this entire story. Why don't you think that Natalie wants to tell Randy on the phone? I mean, she knows who the Dad is – who is the Dad? :) Let's see how this goes, huh? FOUR REVIEWS? I love all of you guys and your feedback, really tells me what to do.<strong>  
><strong>I love you !<strong>  
><strong>Ashley. ]<strong>


	4. Yellow

Irreconcilable Differences  
>chapter four;<br>Yellow

If she thought that she felt sick to her stomach at Smackdown, Natalie felt like she was on the urge of death as she waited for Randy to walk into the restaurant deep in downtown St. Louis. She let her fingers slowly play at the hem of her dress and her teeth peeked from her lips to bite down on the bottom before looking up at the sign of movement coming her way.

Randy looked amazing – just in a simple black v-neck t-shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans. As he came towards her, she realized that her ex-boyfriend from high school had truly grown into an extremely handsome adult. She pursed her lips, gave a weak smile and stood as he opened his arms up to her. She stepped forward and hugged him slightly – her nose smelling the expensive cologne that he had splashed on and the memories of hugs like these flooded through her mind.

"You look good," he said lowly, looking her up and down when they pulled apart. It was unseasonably warm there in St. Louis for the season and she got away with wearing a pale blue sun dress and a pair of white flats. Her blonde hair was curled and over her shoulder, a little bow holding it in a loose ponytail.

"Thank you," she said, sitting down and looking down at the table top.

He watched her intently, "So what did you have to say," he said quietly – watching as the waitress brought them water. "What was so important you couldn't say on the phone?"

She knew she was stupid for even considering that Randy and her would be able to "catch up" as it were, that he would want to get to know what she had been up to.

"Randy, I-"

At this point, the waitress opened her mouth and spoke.

"I'm Isabella, is there anything I can get started for you guys?"

"Nah," Randy said – waving her off- "Maybe in a few."

She dejectedly walked away and Natalie looked back at the menu quietly.

"Randy," she began – trying to keep all emotion from her voice.

Randy leaned in and raised an eyebrow, "Spit it out, Nat..."

"It's not just something that I can -"

"Natalie-" Randy warned.

Natalie gave an exasperated sigh and reached into her purse. "I..." she mumbled, pulling a piece of paper from her wallet. "Here," she said, thrusting the paper over at him. "Read."

Randy lazily reached forward and picked up the piece of paper, his eyes slowly moving from left to right as he read the contents.

While he read, Natalie slowly bit at her fingernails before blurting out, "His name is Carter," she began. "Carter Owen," she nodded. "He was supposed to be named Carter Owen Orton, but my mother ruled against it," she whispered, tears starting to burn in her eyes. "He was born on September 29th," she told him. "I got pregnant sometime around New Years Eve-"

Randy cut her off. "You knew he was mine this entire time?" the venom building in his voice.  
>He had a son – and he was just now finding out about this? After all these years?<p>

"You went back to base and I had no idea if you were ever coming home!" Natalie frowned.

"So you cut out my entire family? They knew what was going on, Nat! All of the fucking time!" he said – his voice rising in volume before he quieted himself and continued. "If I had known-"

"You would've helped us?" she barked. "Would've come home to me and helped?"

Natalie slowly started to shake her head, "I just thought that after all of this time, you should know that you have a son," she pouted. "He watches you every week on television and he has _no idea_ that you're his Daddy," Natalie frowned.

The girl sighed, "If you had known about us, you might have come home but you would never be where you are today," she told him.

Randy sighed and leaned back, his hands going to his face.

"And... I'm proud of who you are, Randy," Natalie nodded slowly. "It's good, you're providing for your wife and your daught-"

"Don't talk about them," Randy snapped instinctively. He hated talking about his family – just because it opened the door for him to show emotion and he hated emotions. Obviously, he was an Orton.

He would do anything for Alanna's privacy – but Sam was starting to get on Randy's list of people he didn't give a fuck about – especially with that last visit home.

He pursed his lips and sighed, "I wanna meet him..."

[**author's note;  
>ahaha, this is so ridiculously short. But hey, it's an update, right? (;<br>And with Carter's birthday coming, that's the next chapter. HA, two reviews? I love you all.] **


	5. Happy Birthday, Boy

**Irreconcilable Differences  
>by barry effing gibb<br>Happy Birthday, Boy**

"Do you know what I was doing twelve years ago today?" Natalie asked as she stood over the stove, flipping a chocolate chip pancake. She looked over her shoulder to see Carter sitting at the kitchen table reading a WWE Magazine that she had got him for his birthday. He looked up quietly and shrugged.

Natalie grinned and put the pancake on his plate, walking over to him and handing him syrup and the plate. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, "I was holding you in my arms for the first time," she smirked. "I can not believe you're so old," she teased – snatching the magazine from him and putting a fork in it's place.

"Ma! I was reading that!" he cried out.

She shrugged, "Trust me, you're going to have a lot of time to read it today," she told him as she sat across from him. He gave a confused look and Natalie shrugged, "I called you out of school today," she said simply.

"Oh, my! Mom! Are you serious?" he screamed – making her jump. "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! Thank you mom!" he grinned, devouring his pancakes.

"And I have another surprise for you," Natalie said with a small bite of her lip. "But when I tell you this, you can not freak out, okay?"

Carter eyed his mother up and munched on his fork before sipping at his milk. "What?" he asked.

Natalie took in a deep breath and held it for a second, "When I went back to Missouri for my job?" she said. "I ran into someone who wanted to meet you," she told him evenly. "He's going to fly in today, we have to go to the airport and I think he wants to take us out for your birthday," she said slowly.

"Who?" Carter asked.

She shrugged, "Someone who I think is going to be around a lot more," Natalie sighed – reaching forward and stealing a bite from his pancake.

"Is he important?" Carter quizzed. "Do I know him?"

Debating whether or not to tell him then or not, Natalie stuffed another bite into her mouth. "I dunno," she said. "But you need to go get dressed, his flight lands in an hour and you know how far we are from the airport," she told him.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so excited," Carter cried out – starting to get up and run towards his room.

Natalie reached out and hooked her arm around his waist and tugged him to her. "Mmm," she said when she held him tight. "Happy birthday, babe," she smiled before watching him run off.

* * *

><p>"Thank you for choosing United Airlines – we have now arrived in San Diego, California where the weather is a beautiful seventy-five degrees and sunny on this September 29th – I hope you have a great day wherever you end up!"<p>

The pilot's greeting to the seaside town was drowned out by Randy's headphones. He stood up and was one of the first people off of the plane and towards the baggage claim. He was pretty excited to get to meet his son for the first time even though it would definitely be awkward. He didn't know what Carter knew about him outside of the ring. Natalie had told him that Carter was a Randy Orton fan since she could remember but the idea that his favorite superstar could be his father was just a little too much for the kid.

Randy understood and couldn't help but wonder about how he would take this if someone told him that his father was his idol. Sure, Randy always knew as a kid growing up that his dad was a WWE Superstar – but it was definitely tough when his dad would return from a long road trip, spending almost a hundred days a week away from his family. He felt bad knowing how awkward it now felt for his father to walk in that door and play daddy after being absent for so long.

He sighed and slid his backpack over his right shoulder, his hand holding it steady as he walked. Randy felt like he'd be able to go out right after having a three hour long flight from the last city the WWE was in last night to take Natalie and Carter out for lunch or a day out. He stopped in the gift shop and scanned the items – not wanting to show up empty handed.

As his free hand went into the jeans of his back pocket, he shook his head at the corny items that the San Diego tourist trap had and after a few moments, gave up – walking out.

He looked down at his cell phone and saw that the flight had landed just on time. Randy looked up and saw a sign pointing the way to baggage claim – he sighed.

This was it.

* * *

><p>Natalie looked up to the sign that read off which flights had landed and which were still in the air. She noted that the one that Randy had been on had "ARRIVED" in big bold letters beside it. Her heart stopped.<p>

This was it.

There was no way she could just shelter Carter anymore – Randy was going to be here within minutes and he wanted to meet his son. She would just let Randy handle it – let him decide when he wanted to tell Carter that he was his daddy.

She watched as Carter kicked the ground, bored obviously, and gave a roll of his head, looking back up at her. "Can we go yet?" he whined.

Natalie shook her head and looked down for a minute, "No, Carter – we can't just go, we have to pick up R-" she stopped herself as she saw a tall, tanned and tattooed man walking towards them.

Randy looked perfect, again – just like lunch last week. He had his dark denim jeans and a white long sleeved t-shirt which had the sleeves pushed to his elbows. He had his sunglasses over his eyes and he stared at Carter who was still looking pretty annoyed and bored.

She pursed her lips and gave a slight wave to which Randy nodded his head and turned towards them – moving at a slow and nervous pace.

Natalie reached over and hit Carter in the back of the head slightly, watching as Carter turned his head and saw Randy.

"Mom!" Carter said – louder than he had anticipated. He then hushed his tone, "Mom, that's Randy Orton!"

Before Natalie could confirm her son's statement, Randy had reached them. He smiled slowly, "Happy birthday, boy," he said and reached out, giving the kid a high five.

"Is this my birthday present?" Carter shrieked. "Is Randy Orton my present?"

Natalie gave a weak smile as Randy leaned in, kissing her cheek gently.

"I thought that I'd come in and surprise you with the best birthday ever," Randy smirked at Carter. "You wanna go?"

Looking like he was going to pass out, Carter stayed silent but nodded his head quickly. "Yes, sir!"

* * *

><p>"So how long are you in town for, Randy?" Natalie asked, looking over at Randy as she parked the car in a parking spot along the beach.<p>

They all climbed out of the car and Randy shrugged. "I leave tomorrow afternoon, we have a house show in Dallas," he told her.

"Tomorrow's Friday," Carter chimed in. "Randy, I thought you had Smackdown tomorrow."

"Nah, little man," the superstar said, letting Natalie lead the way to the sand, walking behind with his son. "We tape Smackdown on Tuesday nights," he told him. "That way we get all of the stuff perfect."

Carter snorted, "I wish you were on Raw, you were so good on Raw," he said.

Randy feigned a hurt look, "I'm still good on Smackdown," he defended.

"I- I mean," Carter stammered. "The guys you fight on Smackdown suck," he said.

"Carter Owen!" Natalie snapped, "Watch your mouth."

Carter bowed his head, "Sorry, mom."

Randy smirked at the interaction of his ex-girlfriend and son. "Well, sure, the guys on Smackdown aren't the best of the best like on Raw, but that makes me look better," he smiled, his hand running over Carter's blonde curls.

He had gotten to stare at Carter a bit at dinner, he had sat across from Randy – and there was no doubt in his mind that he was his son. Natalie had given Carter her hair and nose, but Randy's eyes, lips and ears were definitely there as well.

"We had a lot of fun at Smackdown," Carter nodded. "It was like, the greatest present ever."

Natalie smiled gently and walked to the surf, her feet getting wet as she leaned down and took off her flip flops. "We did have fun," she agreed. She shot a look at Randy who smirked.

"That was the first time I had seen your mom in so long, Carter," Randy dished out. "We were the best of friends in school."

Carter smiled, "Really? She never talked about it until after Smackdown!"

Natalie got quiet and looked out to the ocean.

Randy sighed and sat down on the sand and patted beside him on either side. "You guys, sit," he said – looking at Carter who obeyed immediately, Natalie slowly walking up and sitting beside him. He let his arms wrap around either of them and he took in a deep breath.

"Carter, there's a reason your mom never really talked about me," he said.

Natalie closed her eyes, bracing herself.

"It's because I left her behind after I went into the Marine Corps," he told him. "And I left her when she was having a tough time."

She opened her eyes and looked at Randy quietly.

"And friends never leave each other behind," Randy told Carter seriously.

"But you two are friends, now, right?" Carter asked softly.

Natalie slowly nodded her head, "Mmmhmm," she agreed.

"Friends," Randy said with a smile.

"So," Carter said after a moment or two. He dragged his finger around in the sand before finally becoming blunt. "Randy, did you get me anything for my birthday?" he asked.

Natalie scoffed in shock that her son would be so obvious and Randy chuckled.

"Carter Owen," she warned as Randy reached back, grabbing his backpack.

"I did," Randy nodded. "I got you and your mom something," he said. "I have to say that I started to miss you guys after the show here a couple of weeks ago," he said. "So," he reached into the bag and pulled out an envelope.

He handed it to Carter and smiled. "Open up, birthday boy!"

Carter tore the envelope and pulled the card out, shaking it to release any possibly money or gift cards.

Randy smirked, "He's like his dad," he grumbled as he kissed Natalie's temple playfully.

When paper fell out of the card, Carter put it down and grabbed the papers.

His eyes bugged out, "Mom!" he screamed. "Randy got us tickets to Raw on Monday!" he yelled. "And plane tickets to go!"

Natalie frowned and looked at the papers, "Oh my God, Randy," she said with a small smirk on her lips. "You didn't have to do this," she told him.

Randy shrugged, "It's in St. Louis, I figured I could get everyone together and talk about what we need to do."

She pouted, "Everyone?"

"Mom, dad, Alanna," Randy said – looking down. "Sam," he mumbled.

Natalie shook her head, "No.. No... Carter, go play."

Carter ran towards the surf and left the two to talk.

"We can not go to St. Louis on a whim!" Natalie said fiercely.

Randy looked down, his jaw clenching.

"This is the first birthday that I get to spend with my son," Randy said lowly, "Let me spend it the way that I want to spend it."

Natalie rubbed her head and shook her head. "I can't just go to St. Louis, I have a job and I need to make money to suppor-"

Randy cut her off, "Quit your job and I will help you out, money wise! He's my son, Natalie! I should be able to see him whenever I feel the need," he said simply.

She sighed. "I need to think about this," she whispered.

"Just please let me take you two back to St. Louis and get one weekend with my son before I have to go back on the road," Randy said softly.

"Sooner or later, Randy," Natalie began, "We're going to have to tell him -"

"Tell me what?" Carter asked, coming back with a bunch of kelp wrapped around his ankles.

"Um, um," Natalie stammered.

Randy stood up quickly and grabbed the kid under his arms and hoisted him up, "That you're going for a swim," he smirked, jogging towards the water with Carter screaming playfully as he and Randy waded into the water until Randy lost his balance and dropped into the water.

Natalie sat on the sand watching the love of her life play with the man who gave him to her. Carter had to know soon...

And she knew that going to St. Louis for Raw would be the best way for the truth to get out.

* * *

><p>[<strong>Author's Note:<br>OW-OW. (;  
>You guys are so awesome, I ask for two reviews and I get like, seven? (; I love you all. I hope you loved the Carter x Randy relationship- I need to get some ideas about how the "I'm your daddy" conversation comes about.<strong>

**Four reviews, possibly? Maybe five. (;**

**What do you want to see?**

**Ashley.]**


	6. Paranoid

Irreconcilable Differences  
>chapter six<br>Paranoid

Natalie felt the plane drop about three feet and she let her left hand reach over and clutch Randy's arm. She hated flying but had to admit that having someone who was so used to flying like Randy there for "moral support" was helping a bit. Between Randy talking to Carter about their favorite Wrestlemania moments and telling her every five minutes or so that everything was alright – she was watching the time, no pun intended, fly right on by.

Randy, who was mid-sentence about defending his Wrestlemania match against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, looked over to her hand on his forearm and he smirked gently. He gently reached over and gave her a soft smile, taking her hand in his and laced their fingers together. "You're fine, breathe," he said softly.

Carter looked out the window constantly, his nose pressed against the glass as he watched the landscape of America slowly slide past them with every passing moment. "Are we there yet, Randy?" Carter asked, looking up at Randy with a bored expression on his face.

The three hour flight was his first and Randy was somewhat entertained by the constant questions of their location. He laughed and shook his head to his son, "No little buddy, we're not there yet," he said before spotting the flight attendants coming down the narrow aisle with sodas and peanuts. He looked back to Natalie and smiled.

"How are _you_ holding up?" he asked, raising an eyebrow innocently.

Natalie had been clutching the arm rest so hard that her knuckles had turned stark white and she had her eyes trained on the seat back in front of her eyes. She weakly nodded and shrugged, "As well as can be expected," she whispered, looking over at Carter. "All that matters is that he's having fun," she said gently. "He is having fun, isn't he?"

Randy snorted playfully, "Are you kidding me? He's been asking me so many questions about the WWE and all of that, I think we've got another me on our hands," he smiled softly.

She laughed softly and sighed, "Randy, if he's bothering you – you can tell him you have a headache or something, he'll leave you alone for a b-"

"Are you kidding?" Randy smiled, "Please, I love talking to the kid. He knows so much about the business, Natalie," he smiled. "Alanna doesn't really care, she just knows that Daddy's working," he said. "He knows wrestlers that my _dad_ wrestled with," he explained. "He's a smart kid," he smirked. "You did good," he winked.

"You too," she teased softly before ordering a glass of water. But Randy nixed that immediately.

"Can we get two shots of whiskey?" he smiled at the younger flight attendant. "And chocolate milk for this guy," he said, motioning to Carter who was now playing his game boy.

"Certainly, sir," the attendant smiled, going to get their drinks.

Natalie smirked and looked down before hearing Carter speak again.

"So what's the plan, Randy?" he asked. "When we get there? Just so I know..."

Randy had been asked this question by Carter at least four times since they boarded the plane two hours ago, seven times on the way to the airport in the car Randy had rented for the ride, and three since they woke up that morning. But Randy gave a smile and answered the question as if it were the first time.

"Well, we're going to get to St. Louis a day early," he said simply. "So we're going to stay at my house for the night," he said.

Natalie closed her eyes and nervously took a slow inhale of breath. Randy had assured her that Samantha had gone down to Cancun with her best friends for a relaxation trip for the week, having left last night.

"But we have to pick up my daughter, Alanna from my Dad's house. You know, Cowboy Bob Orton," Randy smirked.

Carter's face lit up again and Randy just wanted to come out and tell the kid that one of his favorite veteran wrestlers was his grandfather.

"We'll get dinner tonight, then I'm going to the arena tomorrow morning – really early to help set up and such, but then when you and Alanna wake up, your Mommy will take you two to the arena and we'll meet up. You can come backstage and meet everyone you wanna meet, eat with us then you three have ring side seats for Raw tomorrow night," Randy said simply as their drinks were delivered.

He handed Carter his chocolate milk and even put the bendy straw in the tiny hole for the kid before clinking his plastic cup of whiskey against Natalie's. "Bottoms up," he winked.

* * *

><p>"You keep fidgeting like that and your entire manicure that you got yesterday is going to come off," Randy murmured from the driver's seat of his BMW. He looked out the corner of his eye to see Natalie beside him, her fingers playing with one another nervously as he pulled onto the street that his parents lived on. "Honestly, Natalie," he said gently, reaching over and grabbing one hand away from the other to cease the movements. "Relax, they're my parents, they loved you," he said. "Hell, they still do, let's be seriously," he shrugged.<p>

"Do they know?" she asked softly.

He shook his head gently, "No, I didn't want to tell them until you were ready," he said, looking in the rear view mirror to see Carter passed out in the seat behind his mother. "But I think we need to tell him before we leave St. Louis," he said, his voice dropping down an octave. "I mean, we can get everyone knocked out at once and everyone can know what the plan is."

Natalie bit her lip, "What's the plan again?" she asked softly, making Randy instantly smile.

"Your son is the spitting image of you," he told her, enjoying the smile that graced her lips. "The plan is that after St. Louis, you're going to San Diego and start packing all of your stuff up," he began, adjusting his grip on the leather steering wheel. "You're going to move in one week from San Diego to St. Louis in that place we saw online and I'm going to come see you and Carter every time I'm back in town. He's mine too, Natalie, and I fully intend on being apart of his life now," he said gently.

Natalie nodded her head and sighed, "I just hope that Sam doesn't get ma-"

Randy pulled into his parents driveway and he sighed, killing the engine before turning in his seat. "Right now, my priorities are you, Carter and Alanna – she wants to go to Cancun for a week, good riddance. I need to get you and my son sorted out before I leave for Mexico City," he told her.

She smiled softly as he leaned in and kissed her cheek before stepping out of the luxury car – stretching as he reached his full height. He looked up at the porch as the door swung open and Alanna ran out of the home.

"Daddy!" She screamed.

Natalie watched her ex-boyfriend with his daughter and smiled gently, getting out of the car and waking up Carter and opening his door. He lazily got out of the car and looked at the house before it clicked.

"Is this Cowboy's house?" he screamed, running towards the door before he got yanked back by his shirt collar. He halted and looked over his shoulder, seeing his mom with a scowl on her face.

Natalie looked up and saw Elaine and Bob Orton walk out of the house – just like old times. Elaine was wearing her simple outfit of a pair of pants and a loose fitting blouse underneath an old apron with flour all over it. Bob was in a pair of basketball shorts and an old t-shirt – she smiled softly and held back as they started to talk to Randy.

She couldn't quite hear what Elaine was saying but she heard Randy's low voice answer simply like, "It was good, long but good..." and "No, we're headed out to the house, but thanks, Ma..." before he turned to look at her and Carter. He motioned for them to join and she slowly walked up with her son.

"Ma, Pop, you two remember Natalie – " before Randy could even finish, Elaine threw her arms open and pushed past Bob to give her a big hug.

She held her tight, "Welcome home, love," she whispered into her ear. Natalie smiled and held onto her tight.

"Hey, Carter, why don't you help Alanna with her stuff, huh?" Randy said with a smirk. Carter nodded and went with the little girl into the house.

"And that is..." Randy began, looking at Natalie. "Is her son, Carter."

Bob eyed up Randy and Natalie before going back into the house.

Elaine grinned from ear to ear, "Oh! He's just the sweetest thing, Natalie! Congratulations! Did you get a good look at Alanna? She's growing up so darn fast," she gushed. "I'm such a proud grandma, Randy just needs to gimme another one – I want a boy!" she smiled warmly.

Natalie smiled, "See, my mom wants a granddaughter," she smirked as Randy walked into the home to help the kids with Alanna's bags.

"Do you want anything to drink, honey? I just made a thing of sweet tea."

"Now have I ever turned down sweet tea?" Natalie smirked, walking into the house with Elaine and into the kitchen.

* * *

><p>Randy walked past Alanna's guest room and down the hall towards his father's office. He knocked twice and walked in, seeing his Dad at the desk towards the back of the room.<p>

"You know, it isn't very polite to just walk off from a guest like tha-" Randy began.

"And you know that is your kid, don't you?" Bob said, not looking up from the newspaper.

Randy watched his father intently as if he were eying up opponent in the ring before the bell would ring.

"That boy is yours and you know it – when were you going to drop that little bombshell on him?" he asked.

The WWE Superstar looked down, "As soon as Natalie figured it'd be right," he said.

"That boy's gonna need a steady father figure in his life," Bob started, folding his paper.

Randy snorted and stood up from his seat and shook his head at his father.

"You have no right to tell me about being a good father or about how I should be there for Carter," he said simply, turning on his heel and walking out of the office.

He quietly made his way to Alanna's room and sighed, leaning against the door frame. "Alright, Alanimal, you ready to go?" he asked - "Carter, you too?"

They nodded and when Alanna tried to grab her Princess and the Frog suitcase, Carter took it and wheeled it out of the room towards the door. Like Randy had done for Natalie at the airport. He smirked. He was already teaching his son stuff. He smirked and said goodbye to his mother and walked out to the car with his family.

* * *

><p>After a big meal of Chinese take out, Randy and Natalie laid on separate couches as they heard the kids run around upstairs. Randy lazily tilted his head to the side and sighed, watching as Natalie played with a strand of her hair. He watched her and smiled softly – she was so damn gorgeous when he took the time to take her in. Her hair was up in a high ponytail for the night and her outfit simply consisted of a pair of form fitting, skin tight yoga pants and a white tank top that she wore a lace black bra underneath. If he really stared he could see the lace with each inhale as her chest would move up.<p>

He blinked when she glanced over at him and he jerked his head forward, staring at the television that was showing SportsCenter. He took a long sip of his Budweiser bottle and glanced down at the label as he heard Alanna's voice carry down the hall.

"Daddy, we're ready for bed!" She called.

Natalie smirked and watched as Randy went towards the hall, "I've got this, don't worry," he said, "Relax for a minute," he winked before making his way to the stairs. She heard his steps upstairs and closed her eyes, somewhat feeling like a family.

After a few seconds of silence when his steps moved off the stairs, she laughed gently when Alanna screamed playfully. "Ah! Monster Daddy!"

She even heard Carter laugh which made her grin from ear to ear. They had made a tent for Carter and Alanna to sleep in on the floor of Alanna's room and Natalie would be sleeping in the guest room.

She sighed and pulled her head off the couch, standing up and walking around the lower floor which had Randy's office, his home gym, the kitchen, living room, game room and the garage. She slowly crossed her arms against her chest and took in a deep breath, staring at photos. Randy in the Marine Corps, Randy and Sam back in the day – probably when he started out at the WWE. A slight pang of jealousy came over her and she moved down towards Randy's computer seeing their wedding photo. She closed her eyes and walked into Randy's office.

Natalie smiled softly as she saw every title that Randy had ever won, a bunch of memorabilia – he really was a fan and then a WWE Superstar if you thought about it. She grinned at the photos of him in high school and was even shocked to see one of her and him when they were dating. He had her on his back and she was leaning over, kissing his cheek lovingly. He had a dopey smile on his face but they were happy. She picked up the frame and stroked his face before putting it down and moving to sit at his desk.

She took a deep breath and moved the mouse of his computer which was already on. She sighed and saw a log in password screen. So much for that.

"There you are," Randy's voice sounded from behind her.

Natalie jumped about six feet in the air and clutched her chest, turning to see Randy in the door frame. He smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"You scared me!" She said with a frown.

Randy smiled, "So did you. I left you on the couch for two seconds and you disappear," he said. "What's up with that?"

Right when Natalie thought she was in trouble, Randy walked in and stood behind her. His hands went to her shoulders and rubbed them slowly.

Natalie's eyes closed quietly, "Do you think we're doing the right thing?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He watched her and let his hands slow to a stop. Were they doing the right thing?

Randy certainly felt pretty bad about having his ex and his son staying at his home with Sam gone – but for the first time in a long while, it felt like there was a family there – and a reason for him to come back after a road trip instead of pushing on to the next city with the single superstars like Punk and Ryder.

"I think we're doing what's right for us at this exact moment," he said. He moved to face her, leaning against the hardwood desk. "Natalie, you don't get it," he said gently. "I'm going to be there for you from now on, and Carter," he whispered. "So you moving to St. Louis is the best way for me to try and do that for you," he sighed softly.

She watched him and pursed her lips, nodding her head. "You're right," she sighed.

Randy nodded and leaned in – pressing his lips against her gently and quickly- before she could tell him now.

"Everything is going to be okay," he whispered. "I promise," he said. "You should get some sleep," he told her. "I'll sleep in the guest room, you sleep in my room, okay?" he asked.

Natalie closed her eyes when her lips pressed against Randy's and before she could react, he was gone and across the room telling her where to sleep. She blushed gently and nodded.

"Bring the kids by around ten, okay?" he asked. "I'll be done with press by then..."

She simply nodded.

"Sweet dreams, darlin'," Randy's Southern accent said gently – and like that – he was gone.

Natalie sighed and exhaled, her hand going to her face and she pouted.

What was that all about?

* * *

><p><strong>author's note:<br>hey you guys! Sorry it's taken so long for me to update this story! (; I'm so mean.  
>I was in San Diego and I just got a whole 'nother bunch of ideas for this one. I wrote this one on the flight back yesterday and I hope it's worth it!<br>You guys are so nice with your reviews, I wanna know exactly what you think!  
>I know if you have seen Randy's DVD "Evolution of a Predator", you'll already get why I threw Randy vs. Bob in there – but if you haven't;<br>Randy's been rather vocal about his Dad being gone a lot back in the day – Bob even said in Randy's DVD that he probably saw Randy about ten or eleven times in an eight year span.  
>Insane.<br>Adorable Carter and Alanna moments to come, promise!  
>Some Natalie and Randy fluff, huh? Sort of a glimpse at the possible future, maybe.<br>Do you think Sam's gonna come into play? When will they tell Carter! :D  
>Ahaha, five reviews, possibly?<br>Love you all so much! Subscribe to story alerts for this one, read my other stories and lemme know how you feel!  
>xoxox<br>Ashley!**


	7. Beautiful Disaster

**Irreconcilable Differences  
>by barry effin gibb<br>chapter seven;  
>Beautiful Disaster<br>**

"Hey," Randy whispered, his lips pressing against her forehead. He let his hand shake her body gently before he watched her stir to life. He flashed a small smile and he sat beside her on his wife's side of the bed. He was mentally kicking himself for not letting himself sleep with her. It had been years since he had actually had someone that he actually loved on the other side of the bed – it would have been nice to be able to reach over and pull Natalie into his arms in the middle of the night.

Natalie's eyes cracked open and she immediately snuggled up in the covers, watching him.

"I'm getting ready to leave, okay?" he asked softly, letting his hand reach over and fix the stray hairs that had left the confines of her ponytail. "You know how to get to the arena," he continued, his hand going down to his lap. "I left the keys to the Mercedes, Alanna's booster seat is in the backseat," he nodded. "It's got a full tank of gas so you won't have to worry about it," he told her. "I've got some press to do for the show, but after that, I'll be at the arena all afternoon."

Natalie slowly nodded her head, staying quiet.

"So take your time getting ready, take a shower, relax a bit," he smiled. "And once you have the kids ready, just send me a text and I'll make sure I'm there to get you through security, okay?"

"Alright," Natalie mumbled.

He gave her a wink and leaned down, kissing her forehead again – carefully trying not to linger. He failed and when he pulled back a few seconds later, he spoke. "Tomorrow is our day," he told her. "We'll let the kids go to my parents for the night and we'll go look for your place tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded again, reaching forward and letting her hand rest on his tattooed forearm. She didn't want him to go.

Randy smiled and let his hand touch hers before sighing, "I'll see you in a bit, okay?"

"Bye, Randy," she said, getting ready to get out of bed.

He smirked, "Whoa, what are you doing?"

Natalie froze, "Um, getting out of be-"

"It's six AM," Randy said. "You don't have to work today, the kids are sleeping, you need to sleep in for the both of us," Randy winked.

Before she could answer, he was gone – and she snuggled back into bed, grabbed one of Randy's pillows and cuddled into it, inhaling deep. It was the closest she could have gotten to Randy in bed with her last night.

* * *

><p>Randy walked into the arena after doing two morning radio talk shows, clutching a cup of Starbucks and wheeling his suitcase into the locker room.<p>

He greeted a few of the WWE Superstars that were in there eating breakfast and watching television and situated himself in the corner of the locker room.

The moments that he had to himself were sacred; he used them to often think about his life, his daughter, what he would do with Samantha – and more often than not, Natalie. But now, he could only think of the family that was hanging out at his St. Charles home right now. He wondered what they were doing, if Alanna was taking well to Natalie being around.

Natalie was a natural mother, Randy knew this. Even if Alanna wasn't her's, she certainly would treat her like she was. Randy smiled softly and started to unzip his suitcase.

"Randy!"

His head tilted up as he heard Cena's voice from the doorway.

"Quit primping and come get some breakfast with me, man, I'm starving."

* * *

><p>"Carter, you go take your shower, okay?" Natalie said, "And check on Alanna, okay?" she asked her son as he got up off of the couch and walked out of Randy's master suite.<p>

Natalie stood in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. She had curled her hair and was getting ready to apply her makeup when she felt a tug at her pant leg.

She looked down and saw tiny Alanna in her black and pink tutu, matching leggings and a black long sleeved t-shirt. She held her arms up and Natalie recognized this as the universal sign as "I want up".

"You look so beautiful!" Natalie gushed playfully, picking the little girl up and placing her on the counter beside her.

Alanna sat patiently. "Can you help me with my hair? Daddy likes pigtails, but I can't do them."

Natalie smiled warmly and nodded her head. "Oh! Of course, honey!"

Alanna grinned and handed her two mismatched elastics and Natalie turned her gently, starting to do her hair.

"You're pretty," Alanna said as they heard the water from Carter's shower start.

"Not as pretty as you," Natalie countered as the brushed the little girl's hair.

Alanna looked down and smiled. The three and a half year old was too damn cute for her own good, Natalie thought.

"Do you love my Daddy?"

Natalie froze.

"Daddy loves you," Alanna said. "He looks at you like the Princes do in the movies!"

"He looks at your mommy the same way, though, I'll bet," Natalie frowned, wrapping half of Alanna's hair in a band, forming the first pigtail.

Alanna shook her head, "Not anymore."

Natalie frowned and went to work on Alanna's other pigtail.

"Your daddy and I loved each other a long, long time ago," Natalie told the girl. "A long, long time ago – before you were even an idea," she said gently. "But your daddy met your mommy and they love each other so much that they thought that they would make someone like you," she smiled looking at the girl in the mirror. "So that you could get all of their love," Natalie smirked, hugging the little girl. "Your mommy and daddy love each other very much. I promise."

Alanna smiled and turned on her knees, hugging Natalie tight.

Natalie looked in the mirror at herself and seriously wondered what Samantha would say if she knew that she was in her bathroom, holding her daughter, and sleeping in her bed.

* * *

><p>"So, wait, wait, wait," John Cena said as he fixed his napkin in his lap, his eyes staring at Randy head on. "You mean to tell me that you have a <em>son<em>?"

Randy quickly held his hand out to his best friend, giving a glare as he scanned the catering department. Nobody who was ballsy enough to air out Orton's dirty laundry was there, but that didn't mean he wasn't paranoid.

"Jesus, Cena, you're like a little kid," Randy cracked, letting his finger pop open the top of a Coke can. "But yeah, Natalie had Carter like, twelve years ago, when I went into the Marines," he said softly.

"What does Sam have to say about this?" John asked.

Snorting, Randy took a sip of his soda. "She doesn't need to know just yet," he said.

"Does the kid look like you?"

Randy smirked gently and nodded, "Spitting image, I mean, he's got Natalie's hair, but he's got my eyes... and ears."

John smirked, "That poor, poor kid," he said, getting hit by a fork that Randy had thrown.

"They're coming here," Randy informed. "Nat's bringing them to see the show," he shrugged. "Natalie's gonna move back from San Diego to come and live here, so I can see Carter more," Randy said gently.

"That's a good idea," Cena agreed. "Let him see you as often as you're in Missouri," he nodded.

Randy smiled, "Man, can I tell you something?" he asked, eying his friend up nervously.

"Shoot, man," John said, leaning in.

Randy moved in and sighed, "Is it bad that I finally feel this... family feeling now that Natalie's here?" he asked.

John frowned and let his hand run over his face as he considered his answer.

"If you never felt it with Samantha, then no. But if you have felt this way about seeing Samantha, then," John shrugged.

Randy nodded, leaning back in his seat.

"I've gotta go sign autographs, alright?" John asked, standing up and grabbing his trash from his breakfast. "Bring this kid by, I wanna see the Orton son," he teased.

"Alright man," Randy said, shaking John's hand.

When Cena was gone, Randy sighed aloud and looked down at his phone. He let his finger slide across the lock screen and saw a photo of Carter and Alanna with Zack Ryder, a message saying, "He met us here before you did, (;" from Natalie.

Randy smirked and slowly gathered his things, threw them away and walked through the arena towards the parking lot.

"No, no, no, man," he heard Zack said as he rounded the corner. Zack was bending down talking to Carter. "You have to fist pump _while _saying "woo, woo, woo, you know it, bro"," Zack nodded, standing back up. "Try it again."

Randy watched from a distance, staring at his son from behind as he tried to copy Ryder's trademark. Squinting, Randy noticed that Carter was wearing a purple "Broski" headband, he shook his head and smirked as Carter nailed the gimmick.

"Yeah, man!" Zack chuckled, "Oh! Randy, bro! What's up?"

Carter turned around to see Randy and he grinned, waving. "Look, Randy!"

Carter pulled on a pair of sunglasses and pointed to his headband. "I'm Broski of the Week!"

Randy chuckled, nodding his head. "You two are ridiculous," he said to Zack then glanced down to Carter. "Hey, John Cena wanted me to tell you that he's down this hall and to the left, signing autographs, why don't you take Alanna down there to see him? I'm sure he'd give you something for you!"

Carter's face lit up, "Oh my God, yes!" He grabbed Alanna's hand and walked with her out of sight.

"Are you sure that they're alright back he-" Natalie asked before Randy leaned in and kissed her cheek. She blushed, going silent.

"Who's that kid?" Zack asked, "I'm totally gonna put him on the show," he said.

Natalie was about to speak and give him his name before she was beat to it.

"Carter," Randy said. "He's my son, Carter."

Zack's eyes bulged out. "What!"

"This is my ex-girlfriend, Natalie," Randy continued. "We had Carter when we were younger and yeah," he shrugged. "But he doesn't _know_, Zack. So don't say it, okay?"

Zack nodded, locking his lips like a kid.

"Well, I'm gonna go see the writers," Zack said. "I'll see you guys around?"

"Bye, Zack," Natalie said, waving gently.

Randy watched him walk off before his eyes fell on Natalie.

"Did you listen to me and sleep in?" he asked, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together as he led her down the hallway.

"I couldn't really," Natalie frowned, "I slept maybe another hour?"

"Enough to make me jealous," Randy winked.

"Are you sure that he's not going to say anything?" Natalie pouted, changing the subject.

Randy watched her and he nodded. "I'm sure of it, okay? It's going to be alright."

* * *

><p><strong>[Author's Note:<br>Alright, guys. Another chapter down – another step closer to the whole story being finished. Just kidding, this one is going to go on for a while longer. I just wanted to thank all of you guys for reading, reviewing, subscribing to me and all of that. It means a lot! (:**

**And for people to say that they like the characters, you know how that gets to me! (:**

**I was thinking maybe THREE reviews for this one. Who knows, I might just be uber nice and post the next chapter sooner rather than later. Enjoy, enjoy!**

**What did you think about Alanna? I know she's only three and a half, but I had to get a good scene with her and Natalie. Aw, yeah! :D Kay!**  
><strong>xoxo Ashley.]<strong>


	8. Easy

**Irreconcilable Differences  
>by barry effin gibb<br>chapter eight;  
>Easy<strong>

The last week had gone by so fast that Natalie couldn't even believe that this was her life. She had gone from living in San Diego, California to moving back to St. Louis, in a home just a few miles away from Randy's place. It was a nice place, too nice, if you asked Natalie, when it came to just her and Carter living there. But Randy had chosen the place and told Natalie that until she could find herself a job that she'd like, he'd pay for all of her bills.

Natalie sort of hated being that "kept woman" in Randy's life, but it was nice to have as much time as she could possibly need to get settled in the new place. It was a three bedroom, three bath two story home, a nice kitchen and a decent sized living room. To be completely honest, Natalie had agreed that this home on Bleaker street was her dream home. Randy had come home right after Raw and the Smackdown taping to help her settle in and now, only five days after moving across country, Natalie sat on her couch, taking in the details of her new home.

Carter had gone to school this morning and she was waiting for Randy to pick him up and bring him here so they could have a nice dinner before Samantha would return to Missouri tomorrow afternoon. It was going to be weird to have to share Randy with his wife, especially since Natalie had gotten used to Randy being there for her the last couple of weeks.

She looked at a photo on her coffee table that had Randy and Carter at Raw last week, both hitting the Legend Killer pose. Natalie grinned and looked down at her watch.

Randy should be there any minute, she told herself, looking at her television which was showing a rerun of Jerry Springer.

As the boyfriend confessed his love for a stripper, the door swung open and Carter, along with his partner in crime, Alanna, ran through the foyer.

"Hey, hey!" Randy hollered, shutting the door behind him. "You two need to take off your shoes!" he called out.

Natalie smirked and stood up, going to greet Randy as the kids ran upstairs to Carter's room.

Randy's face went from annoyed to happy as Natalie leaned against the walkway to the kitchen. She crossed her arms against her chest and he smirked.

"They were driving me crazy on the way back here," Randy confessed, moving closer to her. "Mmm," he said softly, leaning down and kissing her lips quickly. "Hey there," he winked.

Natalie closed her eyes and smiled softly, "Hi, handsome," she said.

She knew that he was married, but there was something about playing house with Randy that really made things harder for her.

Randy immediately went for the kitchen and opened the fridge. "So, there was a slight change in plans," he told her with a nod.

"What do you mean?" Natalie frowned.

He shrugged, "I got a babysitter for the kids tonight and we," he said, closing the fridge and untwisting the top to a red Gatorade. "Are going out."

She raised an eyebrow, "Do you think that's the best idea?"

"I don't care if it is or not, I know that my time with you is going to be cut in _half_now that Sam's coming home," Randy told her. "So, who gives a fu-"

She sighed and looked down, "Where are we going?"

He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, "That's for me to know and you to find out," he said. "Go get ready, though," he said. "The babysitter is supposed to be here in about an hour," Randy smirked.

Natalie smiled gently and turned around, going up the stairs as Randy continued to raid the fridge.

Randy sighed and sat down, watching Springer and drank some of his Gatorade.

He heard Natalie's shower start and he smirked gently, letting his eyes close, his mind wondering if she looked as good as she had when they were teenagers. Hell, Randy thought, probably better. If there was anything that having Carter gave her – it was curves – and those curves were killer.

He bit his bottom lip and frowned when a rumble came from upstairs followed by Alanna crying. Randy pouted and stood up, jogging up the stairs and pushing Carter's bedroom door open.

Alanna was in a pile on the floor and Carter was bouncing up and down on his bed. "She fell!"

She shook her head as Randy picked her up, sobbing into his chest, "Daddy! He pushed me!"

"I did not!" Carter screamed.

"Hey! Hey!" Randy said, "Don't you yell in this house, Carter Owen, I'm warning you, keep this up, you'll be grounded," he said before checking Alanna out for injuries.

"You're not my dad! I don't have to listen to you!" Carter snapped.

Randy stood up straight and stared the little boy down. "Excuse me?"

"You're not my dad!"

Randy smirked and tilted his head to the side, "You don't think so?"

"I know so!" Carter said, watching as Randy stepped closer to him.

"You'd be surprised at how little you know, little man," Randy growled.

It was at this exact moment that Randy knew for a fact that Carter was his son – especially since he had snapped at his father around this age too.

Carter swallowed hard and Randy went back to look at Alanna.

"You're fine, baby girl," he said, sitting her down on the floor. "I'm gonna go check on Natalie. Alright? You two play nice..."

Randy felt Carter's eyes on him as he walked out of the room and towards Natalie's master bedroom. When he walked in, he gave a soft sigh and walked to the bathroom and propped himself up on the counter.

"We need to tell him," Randy started slowly.

Natalie jumped and looked at the curtain, "Jesus, Randy! You scared the hell-"

"Natalie, we need to tell the kid that I'm his dad! He's running around this house like he's the man of the house – and I think we need to establish that he's not the boss – but I am."

Natalie frowned and continued to wash her hair, "Where did this come from?"

"He pushed Alanna off the bed when they were jumping!" Randy explained. "And I told him to stop yelling in this house and he said, 'you're not my dad'." Randy frowned. "But the funny thing is that I _am_."

"Randy, it's not the right time," she pouted, dropping the razor on accident. "Dammit," she muttered.

The Apex Predator sighed and looked down at the floor and realized that he was never going to find the perfect time to tell Carter that he was his dad. He frowned, his thumb going to his lip as he wondered when he'd get to tell his son. "I just want to say it," Randy explained, seeing Carter in the door of the bathroom.

Natalie sighed, "I know you do, Randy, but unfortunately," she said, not seeing Randy try to get Carter to leave, "There's no way of saying, 'Carter, look buddy. I've led you on for twelve years and you do know your Daddy – you've known him for a long time, your Daddy is your hero. You're an Orton..."

Natalie sighed and turned off the water, wrapped the towel around her body and pulled back the curtain, seeing Carter with a shocked look on his face and Randy covering his face.

Her color drained from her face and she gaped.

"Carte-"

Carter ran out of the room, down the hall, down the stairs and out of the house, slamming the door.

Randy frowned as he watched Natalie hurriedly try to follow him.

"No," he said, holding her back. "I'll go," he sighed, kissing her temple. "It's gonna be okay..." he told her, running after the child.

* * *

><p>Randy jogged down the street as he saw Carter sitting at the park down the street. He sighed and slowed up his pace, sitting down next to the little boy and raised an eyebrow at him. "We wanted to tell you sooner," Randy began. "And in a better way than this," he sighed.<p>

Carter was silent.

"Your mom and I were young," Randy told him – deciding to treat his son like an adult. He wasn't Alanna's age, he was close to being a teenager, he couldn't sugar coat it. "We were young, we loved each other and when your mom found out that she was pregnant with you, Carter," Randy sighed. "I was already in the Marine Corps and she didn't want to rui-" he stopped to rephrase it.

"Why didn't you want me?" Carter asked, finally looking up at Randy with tears in his eyes.

Randy's heart broke and instead of trying to explain himself further, he simply reached out and took his son in his arms. "Kid," Randy sighed. "If I knew about you," he said softly. "I would have been there for you every step of the way, every single day, every birthday," he told her.

Carter frowned and held onto Randy.

Randy tightened his grasp on his son and looked down for a moment, "Trust me when I say that I have loved you since the minute I saw you," he told him. "And I love your mother so much, Carter. I'm not going to leave you two behind ever again."

He continued.

"You, Alanna and your mother are the three most important things in my world, right now, Carter. If I had to walk away from the WWE today, I would be okay with it, because I'd have you three."

Carter bit his lip and pulled back, looking at his dad.

"So, can you come back to the house and talk to your Mom?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "She's real upset, Carter," he said softly. "She was going to tell you at the perfect moment," Randy sighed. "We were going to tell you. Together."

He nodded, "Can I tell you something... Randy?"

Randy knew it would take a while for Carter to accept him as Dad, but he nodded his head.

"It's just that," Carter took a deep breath. "It's sort of hard for me to let you be the guy in Mom's life," he explained. "Just cause I've been there since day one, so she says," he told her. "So, it takes a lot for me to say," Carter reached his hand out. "If you hurt her," he said seriously. "I will make sure your life is a living hell."

Randy's eyes widened and he gave a small chuckle, "Wow, wow," he smirked before shaking his son's hand. "I promise that I won't hurt her. I love her too much. "

Carter nodded and stood up, "Alright."

Randy stood and placed his hand on his son's hair, ruffling his hair playfully.

"So, if you're my dad," Carter said with a raise of an eyebrow. "Are you the one I talk to about tickets to Wrestlemania?"

* * *

><p>When the door opened and Carter and Randy walked in, Natalie stood up and hugged Carter tight, apologizing in his ear for not telling him.<p>

"Ma," Carter sighed, hugging his mom. "Ma!"

"Let the kid breathe, Nat," Randy said with a soft smirk.

Natalie pulled back and looked at her son, "I'm so sorry, baby!"

"Mom, it's okay..."

Natalie stood and looked at Randy.

Carter sighed and watched the pair of them. "Are you two going to get married, now?"

Natalie scoffed and shook her head, walking to Carter and laughing gently. "You're too old, now."

Randy stood at the base of the stairs, "Alanna!"

Alanna toddled down the stairs and Randy picked her up, looking over to Natalie.

"Can we stay in tonight?" Natalie asked softly, raising an eyebrow.

He smiled softly, "Yeah... we can stay in, babe."

* * *

><p>The house was dark when she pulled up in the rental car that she had picked up at the airport. She figured that they had gone out for a little Daddy-Daughter time. A smile graced her lips as she realized that the house would be all to herself.<p>

Maybe she'd take a nice bubble bath and just relax before returning to her life as the wife who was alone all of the time.

As she brought her luggage into the home, Samantha Orton walked through the foyer and looked around quietly, walking further and further into the home.

"Hello?" she called out, turning on a few lights.

No answer.

"Randy?" Sam asked.

Nothing.

"Alanna?"

Sam shrugged and walked into the kitchen, seeing a note on the island counter. "What's this?" she asked.

Her fingers took the paper and she slowly started to read.

_I'll see you tonight – I hope you had a good flight home.  
>Oh, can you bring Carter's t-shirt? He forgot it there last time.<br>See you soon,  
>Natalie.<em>

Sam's body went cold and she let the paper hit the counter.

"That son of a bitch!"

* * *

><p>"Pizza's here!" Randy called out to the home as he walked to the dining room where Natalie had set up four places. He placed it in the center of the table top, watching as Alanna and Carter ran to the table. He looked at Natalie who was in the kitchen.<p>

"Nat, c'mon," he said.

"I'm getting drinks!" Natalie told him, coming out with a glass of juice for Alanna, a Coke for Carter and a bottle of wine for her and Randy. When she sat across from Randy, he watched her intently and when she caught him watching, he winked and looked at the kids.

"Who's going to say "grace"?" she asked.

Natalie watched the kids point at each other and Randy gave a low sigh. "Alanna, baby? Will you say it?" he asked as they all joined hands.

Alanna sighed and laced her hands with Randy and Natalie's. "Thank you, God, for this food that we are about to eat. Amen."

"That wasn't too hard, was it?" Randy asked his daughter.

"Yeah, Alanna," Carter teased.

Randy smirked and started to dish up everyone's plates, starting to eat as he listened to his kids argue playfully and Natalie intervene here and there.

This was the life he should have lived since day one.

"Daddy?" Alanna asked, "Are you going to stay for a while?"

Randy smiled warmly and slowly shook his head, "No, honey. You're going to stay with Mommy for a bit, then I'll come home and we can come visit Natalie and Carter again."

Randy would have to leave on Thursday night to get to a Smackdown house show in Phoenix, he'd come home on Wednesday and decide then who he'd go see first. It wasn't a competition between Natalie and Samantha – it just was a matter of where he wanted to be.

"Aw, dad, can I go?" Carter asked, giving a whine.

Natalie sighed, "Carter! Don't make him feel bad."

"Not this time, bud, because I need you here to take care of your sister and your mom," he said, motioning to Alanna and Samantha.

Alanna went silent.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Natalie frowned, letting her hand rest on Alanna's wrist.

Randy watched silently.

"I like spending time with Natalie, daddy. I don't wanna stay with Mommy," she sighed gently.

His heart snapped. "Baby girl, Mommy hasn't seen you in a long time, she misses you."

Carter and Natalie were silent as Randy consoled his now crying daughter.

"Alanna Marie," Randy sighed, "C'mon. Breathe, baby."

Alanna sniffled and looked at her Daddy. "I want to stay here, though."

Randy frowned, "I will do everything in my power to let you stay here sooner or later, okay?"

After dinner, Natalie had turned on a movie for the kids in the living room and now, she was standing at the sink doing dishes quietly. "Are you going home tonight?" she asked as Randy brought the leftover pizza slices to the fridge.

He shrugged, "I wasn't planning on it," he told her honestly.

Natalie smiled weakly and looked over her shoulder at him. "Are you going to stay in the guest room?" she asked.

Randy watched her intently and watched as she turned the water off and leaned against the counter.

"Again, I wasn't planning on it," he said with a sly smirk. His hands went to the counter on either side of her, looking down at her.

"I don't want you to," she whispered as he let his hand reach up and brush at strand of her hair away from her face. His eyes went from her eyes, to her lips back to her eyes and he shrugged.

"Then I won't," he whispered.

Natalie pursed her lips, "Can you do me a favor?" she asked, leaning in slowly.

Randy nodded his head and leaned in as well.

"Can you dry the dishes?" Natalie smirked.

He paused for a second before grinning, "Yeah," he said – leaning in and kissing her lips slowly.

"Dad, can we get some ice cream?" Carter screamed.

Randy deepened the kiss and let his hands slide up to her neck, pulling her closer to his body.

"Dad!"

Natalie finally broke the kiss and looked up at Randy, smirking slowly. "That's your cue."

He smirked and shook his head, going to the freezer.

"This?" he said, motioning to the pair of them. "Is not over," he winked, going to get a couple of bowls.

* * *

><p><strong>[Author's Note: <strong>

**There it is, guys! (:  
>The big kiss!<br>And Carter finally knows that his Daddy is Randy Orton!  
>I would love to hear what you guys think about this chapter!<br>I threw Zack in there to kind of get you all thinking who would tell Carter!  
>It was Nat! .gee.<br>I hope you enjoyed it. FIVE reviews, maybe? (:  
>And make them good, y'all!<strong>

**Would you like to see a Natalie & Samantha throw down?**

**Would you like to see a sequel? (:**  
><strong>I love you all.<strong>  
><strong>Review, add to your favorite story list, all of that!<strong>  
><strong>Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!<strong>  
><strong>Xoxox Ashley]<strong>


	9. I Walk the Line

**Irreconcilable Differences  
>by barry effin gibb<br>chapter nine;  
><strong>I Walk the Line

The morning after Halloween was the morning that Natalie woke up naked in her own bed. Her hair was splayed about on the pillow that her head was laying on and she bit down on her lip as her eyes slowly opened. She looked to the bedside table beside her and saw that the clock read that it was ten thirty in the morning.

"Fuck!" she cried out, sitting up quickly. "Carter? Get in the car! We're late!" she screamed out, jumping out of the bed and pulling on a pair of sweats that were two sizes too big, most likely Randy's, and one of Randy's t-shirts. She ran into the bathroom and tried to make her hair presentable.

At this moment, Randy slowly walked into the bedroom in nothing but a pair of boxers, holding a bowl of Cap'n Crunch as he slowly made his way to the bed. He sat on the mattress, his back pressed against the headboard and he watched his ex-girlfriend hurry to get ready.

Natalie came out of the bathroom a few moments later and glared at Randy, "Why didn't you wake me up? Carter has school!" she cried out, searching for her purse.

Randy didn't even look up at her as his spoon brought a mouthful of cereal into his mouth. He chewed for a second and looked at her, a smirk gracing his lips as he watched. "Because I took Carter and Alanna to school on time, you needed your sleep."

Feeling like an idiot, Natalie huffed and let her arms fall to her side. She sighed and walked back to the bed, jumped up and crawled over to his side.

"Aw, are you coming to say 'thank you' to me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow up at her, a small smirk on his lips.

She nodded and leaned in, her lips pressing against his temple. "Mm, thank you for letting me sleep in and taking them," she said.

Randy smiled and took another big bite, "You're very welcome, it was the least I could do," he said.

Natalie fell back on her side of the bed and bit down on her lip, realizing what had happened when she first woke up.

"Why was I naked?"

Randy chuckled gently and reached over, setting his bowl of cereal on the bedside table on his side of the bed before he leaned down, his lips kissing Natalie's as his hand slid up to the side of her neck.

"Aw, c'mon Nat," Randy smirked softly, letting his lips slide up to the side of her neck.

Natalie closed her eyes and smiled.

"We came home after trick or treating and... we got reacquainted with one another," he whispered against her neck. "It's what you deserved for that kiss at the sink the other night," Randy teased.

The blonde giggled under his kisses before she let her arms loop around his neck.

"When do you have to go to Smackdown?" she whispered softly as his kisses got a little rougher, sucking and teeth becoming involved.

Randy chuckled, "Two-thirty."

Natalie giggled, "Good, I've got time," she said, rolling on top of him as he laughed, holding her tight to his body.

* * *

><p>The worst part of coming home for visits was the fact that sooner or later, he would have to leave everyone behind. He hated goodbyes, they were the worst part of the WWE. Every week he would have to say goodbye to his little girl, Carter and now, Natalie. He had opted for Natalie to come to the airport with him to drop him off, which he was now regretting. He didn't want to leave her behind, not again. He sighed, wishing that he had thought this though a little better as she pulled up to the curb.<p>

She unbuckled her seat belt as he climbed out of the car, getting his bags out of the trunk of her Jeep. She pouted her lips and let her hands rest on her hips.

Randy sighed as he caught sight of her. He slowly let his bag go to the curb and he moved closer to her, "Hey, hey," he said softly. "Don't be like this, don't be sad," he said – trying his hardest not to sound bummed that he would be leaving her.

_Orton's don't show emotion. Especially in public, you idiot. Stay strong._

Randy replayed these statements in his head before he felt her grab onto him – and even worse, heard a sob into his chest.

He threw his arms around her and held her so tight that he thought she would break in half. "Natalie," he whispered – having flash backs of when he left for the Marines.

She cried into his Under Armor jacket and he closed his eyes, running his hand through her hair.

"I don't want you to go," she whispered.

"And you think I wanna go?" he asked, frowning. "I love spending time with you and the kids, baby girl," he told her. "I'm going to come back, baby. This isn't the Marines, I'm home on Thursday!"

"But I won't see you until Saturday," Natalie reminded. Samantha had demanded that Randy stayed home for a couple of days after this road trip. Natalie knew that Sam knew – but Randy refused to acknowledge it.

Randy frowned, "When I come home," he said softly, wiping her cheeks away. "I'm going to tell Sam about us and we'll start to file for divorce, alright?" he asked.

Natalie froze and looked up at him.

"Last night just proved to me that you deserve the real thing, Natalie," he said softly. "I felt more at home with you in one night than I have with Sam for the past five years," he whispered. "Alright?"

She nodded slowly.

Randy kissed her forehead and mumbled, "I love you," before letting go of her and walking into the airport before he was tempted to get back into that car.

* * *

><p><strong>[Author's Note;<br>Alright guys. So, Nat and Randy totally had sex. (;  
>Oh my God, I wish this story was rated M, but I don't wanna bump it up.<br>We can make sure I could post a one shot, maybe. Who'd read it?  
>Anyways, Randy's finally confessed he loved her.<br>Sure he'd said it a few times but he said it aloud now.  
>It was short, but like Randy said, he's gonna come home and tell Sam that he wants the divorce... AWWWWWW, SHIT. But don't worry, before Randy comes home, there's gonna be a confrontation between Natalie and Samantha. Enjoy.<br>Three reviews for this one? (;  
>Love you all.<br>Ashley.] **


	10. Excuse Me

**Irreconcilable Differences  
>by barry effin gibb<br>chapter ten;  
>Excuse Me<strong>

As the afternoon recess bell rang, Carter Orton waited outside of the double doors of the pre-kindergarten wing of Sagewood Elementary, leaning against the brick wall. The sounds of kids playing echoed over his shoulder, and he even heard his friends yell out for him to join them on the basketball court. He ignored them and smiled softly when the door opened and a flood of children came outside.

Once he spotted Alanna, he gave her a hug and walked with her out to the playground. "What do you want to today?" he asked her.

"Miss Tiffany took my Barbies away today," she pouted innocently as they reached the swing set.

Carter mentally praised the Lord, he had played Barbies with his little sister every day this week. "Oh, that's mean. Dad'll come take care of her," he told her. "Do you want to go on the swings? I'll push!"

Alanna nodded her head up and down and got up on the swing, holding on for dear life as he started to push her.

"Dad comes home tonight," Carter reminded her.

Recess had become the time that Alanna and Carter got to spend time with each other once Randy was out of town. Without Randy, they weren't able to spend time together outside of school. But they had learned that school was their playplace now.

Alanna smiled, "I know, I'm so excited. I hope he brings me to see you and Natalie," she confessed. She didn't hate her mother, but there were just things that she did to her that Natalie would never even think of doing. She bit her lip and watched as she swung back and forth. "Your mommy is really, really nice," she told Carter.

Carter grinned, "Yeah," he said. "I think I might keep her," he teased.

"I want to live with you guys," Alanna piped in.

Carter stopped the swing and moved so he was sitting in front of the toddler, "Hey," he said in a low voice. "What did daddy say?" he asked her, "One of these days, Alanna Marie, we're going to be a family. You, me, Mom and Dad, okay?" he frowned.

She was going to speak again but the bell rang. Carter groaned and helped Alanna off of the swing. They both ran towards their class line and when they were in them, they waved – their recess was over.

"Why do you always play with that little girl?" Carter's buddy, James asked.

Carter shrugged, "She's my little sister, man," he said. "Family sticks out for each other, alright?"

* * *

><p>"Oh, now would you look who's here," Samantha Orton whispered to herself as she parked her BMW. The brunette turned off the engine and watched as Natalie sat on her telephone, talking rather animatedly with someone.<p>

_Probably my husband_, Sam thought to herself as she pushed her sunglasses over her eyes. The scorned woman stepped out of the car and walked up to the parking lot.

She glanced at her watch. The parking lot was empty now, but in about three minutes' time, the little kids of Sagewood Elementary would be out and ready for their weekends to start. This was the time, she had to do something.

She walked up to Natalie and gave a small smile, waving.

"Um," Natalie said, her voice a little nervous all of a sudden. "Babe? I've gotta go, okay? I have to um.. um.. order Carter's school pictures," she excused herself – mentally kicking herself in the skull. "Yeah," she paused – realizing that wouldn't cut the conversation with Randy off – especially when they hadn't talked in two days. "Yeah, I know we got them in the mail, but I wanted more for my parents," she continued, holding up a finger to Sam.

"Hang up. The phone. Now." Samantha snapped.

Natalie let the phone go down to her side and she glared at Samantha. "If you're the welcoming committee, man, you need to work on your people skills."

Samantha smirked, "You're right, I should get you on the committee, sleeping with other people's husbands is a way better way to make friends."

"You know, Randy and I have a past," Natalie shrugged.

"I don't give a fuck," Sam told her seriously. "I have a future with him-"

"Correction," Natalie interrupted her. "You have a day-to-day relationship, honey," the blonde smirked gently. "Aw, you actually think Randy's happy with you?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Samantha chuckled. "Randy is a one man show, he doesn't need anybody, his life is on that road, he dates girls in every city the WWE go to," she said. "He comes home and acts like everything's roses, but honestly, if you're going to be with Randy Orton, you constantly have to accept that you're just not enough."

"I mean, look at you now," Samantha said, stepping closer. "While you're busy playing house here with my husband, he's out in another city, another state... who's to say there isn't another woman out there on that road?" she asked quietly.

Natalie frowned as the bell rang, just wanting to reach out and slap the shit out of the woman who was standing in the way of her and Randy being happy.

As the kids flooded out to their parents and their rides home, Sam stood there as if nothing was wrong.

Carter and Alanna ran towards their mothers and Carter stood back as Alanna hugged Natalie around the knees.

"Can I come home with you?" Alanna asked, looking up to Natalie with an innocent smile. "Carter said you guys got Cars 2! I wanna watch! Then we can go get Daddy together!"

Sam's face went from surprised to disgusted. She reached down and grabbed Alanna roughly by the arms, hoisting her up to her hip. Her eyes met Natalie's and she spoke.

"Stay the hell away from my husband, tramp."

* * *

><p>Randy hadn't been this busy on the road since he first moved to Smackdown a few months back. Sure, he had a few signings the last couple of days and the taping of Smackdown had sure thrown him in the loop – but it was the behind the scenes, where he had asked the WWE Legal team to help him in the idea of getting a divorce from Samantha.<p>

He had been told to do it before she could – especially since Randy had heard the conversation between the two – having been on the other line of Natalie's telephone – hearing the entire thing. Now that Sam knew that he had been cheating on her, he had to act fast so she couldn't make him look like a bad guy.

He was pissed, though – especially after hearing Sam telling Natalie that he cheated on her with random girls around the country. That was the old Randy – that was the Randy before Alanna was born and before he had even considered getting in touch with Natalie. Sam was living in the past.

The past in which he and Sam were happy.

It hadn't been that way in so long, he thought as he got off the flight in St. Louis, walking through the airport. If it wasn't for Alanna, Sam would have been long gone – he knew that. Sam knew that too... That was why she kept trying for more kids, skipping days on her birth control and making sure that they didn't use protection.

Randy sighed as he made his way to baggage claim. He didn't know who would pick him up tonight, either Natalie or Sam. He hoped that it was Sam, just so he could go up to her, take his little girl and throw the freshly-drawn up divorce papers at her.

He pouted as he found his suitcase – along with a little girl sitting on top of it. Alanna was giggling and going around on her Daddy's suitcase. He smirked and picked her up, put her on his hip and grabbed the suitcase all within three seconds. "Mm, Daddy's home!" he smirked.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy!" Alanna giggled, hugging him and making sure her body was close to his. She missed him so much. "Can we go see Natalie?" she asked. "They have Cars 2, I want to watch."

Randy smirked and looked up to see Sam with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot up and down. He chuckled and ignored her, walking with Alanna.

"Of course we can!"

He heard Sam huff and he watched as she slowly followed behind them.

They got in the car and he put Alanna in her seat, grabbed his backpack and pulled out the papers. He walked around the car and exhaled slowly before opening the driver's seat door and climbed in, dropping the papers in her lap, pulled the car out of the parking lot and drove home.

* * *

><p>"Are you really going to leave me?" Sam asked with a scoff as she watched Randy pack things into a suitcase.<p>

He was silent and threw a few pairs of shoes in the bag before zipping it up.

"Randy, don't do this, don't leave me," Sam begged.

He turned on his heel and walked with the full duffel bag, handing it off to her. "I'm not," he told her. "I bought this house, you're leaving," he told her. "I'm keeping Alanna here and you can go find a place with one of your friends," Randy shrugged.

"Are you going to move that little bitch in to take my place?" Sam asked sarcastically. "Gonna live in _our_house with that slut?"

"That "slut" is the mother of my son," Randy said calmly.

"Oh, is that what she told you about that little bastard?" she asked. "She couldn't find the real daddy so she came to you?"

Randy jumped forward and pinned her to the bedroom door, his grasp tightening on her forearms. "Shut your fucking mouth," he yelled at her. "Carter is my son – Natalie is the love of my life and you're just jealous," he said, letting go of her. "Get out of here, Samantha, we're through."

* * *

><p><strong>[Author's Note:<br>Oooooooooooooohshit.  
>I wanted to thank all of you guys with these reviews, I'm glad I got some new readers! (; Someone was so nice to even write a review for each chapter as she went through the story! I'm so lucky to have readers like you! Anyways!<strong>

**Chapter ten, y'all!**  
><strong>This crap was crazy fun to write!<strong>  
><strong>Natalie vs Samantha...<strong>  
><strong>Carter &amp; Alanna being all cute...<strong>  
><strong>Samantha vs. Randy.<strong>

**Who do you think won? (;**

**Love you all so much!**  
><strong>Four reviews?<strong>  
><strong>Love, Ashley. ]<strong>


	11. Walk Away

**Irreconcilable Differences  
>by barry effin gibb<br>chapter eleven;  
>Walk Away<strong>

The doctor's office was surprisingly still three days after Christmas. Natalie was the only person waiting in the designated area – and only one nurse was walking around the office doing paperwork. She was happy that Carter and Alanna had opted out of coming, especially when she knew their lives would all be affected with the results of this doctor's exam.

She let her right hand reach up and pressed her fingernails against her bottom lip, hearing the faint upbeat music come through the music system. Natalie sighed gently and slid her eyes shut.

She hadn't gotten sleep since Randy had called her the night before, telling her that something had gone wrong in his match with Wade Barrett. He had told her that Wade threw him off a set of stairs and he fell all wrong. Natalie had been so paralyzed with worry that she hadn't even shown anger.

Randy had come home that morning and explained that they would have to go to the doctor as soon as possible – that this injury, unlike the last few, was serious. On the ride over to the doctor's office, she had racked her brain to think of at least _one_ WWE superstar who had suffered from a slipped disc and come back to wrestling full time, at one hundred percent.

And now, she still hadn't thought of one.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard a door open, seeing Randy walk out on a set of crutches with a wince on his face every step he took towards her.

"Alright, Randy," Dr. Phillips said with a nod of his head, "We'll be in contact with the trainers, then we'll go from there – where they want to see you go," he said. "So, honestly, just rest up – and Randy," he said, a little more seriously, "Let her help you."

Randy looked at the doctor and slowly nodded his head as the door shut.

Within an instant, Natalie was beside Randy, helping him walk out the doctor's office, "Well? What's happened?" she asked, biting her bottom lip.

He shrugged his shoulders and nodded towards the door that lead to the iced out parking lot. "Nothing, I wrestled injured, things got worse and I'm paying the price."

Natalie frowned softly, "What do you mean, Randy?" she asked.

Randy shook his head, "Don't worry about it, babe," he told her with a roll of his eyes. "I'm hungry," he said.

"Well, I'm not. I'm sick to my stomach, what happened in there? How long are you out?" she asked, biting her lip.

Natalie helped him in the car and she looked at him intently.

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, "Six months," he said gently.

She frowned.

"Six months," she whispered. "That means that Wre-"

"Wrestlemania is out," Randy snapped, glaring at her. "Yeah, I know, Nat, thanks."

She jumped slightly at his raised voice and she stepped back, slamming his door shut. Natalie slowly walked to the other side, climbing in and starting the engine. "Don't be an asshole to me, I'm just trying to help," Natalie said softly, starting to drive back home.  
>-<p>

"Yeah, mom, honestly, all I can do is just make sure that Randy's taken care of," Natalie sighed gently into the telephone as she walked from the fridge to the counters as she started to make dinner for her family.

Natalie sighed as she kicked the fridge door shut, her head tilted as she held the phone to her ear with her shoulder, grabbing a few bowls of ingredients.

"Of course I'm going to stay here, mom!" she pouted her lips, starting to cook some hamburger in a pan. "Well, why wouldn't I?"

Natalie went silent as her mother tried to talk her out of staying, especially when her mother said that Randy hadn't been there for her and Carter at all until as of late.

She frowned, "He's a great man, mother. And I'm not going to let you talk me out of staying. Carter loves his father, and Randy loves his son."

Natalie sighed as she saw Alanna walk into the kitchen with her sippy cup and blanket dragging on the floor. "I've got to go, mom," Natalie shrugged, "I'll talk to you later," the blonde sighed and hung up.

She took a deep breath and smiled softly as Alanna walked up to her, holding her arms up. Nat leaned down and picked the little girl up, "Mmm," she said softly, "Hello, beautiful."

"Hi, Nat," Alanna smiled, holding her tight, "What's for dinner?" she asked.

Natalie smirked, sliding Alanna onto her hip, looking at the little girl for a second, "Oh, well, I'm making Daddy's favorite," she said.

Alanna's eyes widened, "Spaghetti!"

"Mmhm!" she laughed softly, stirring the meat.

"Can I help?"

The older woman grinned, "Of course you can, love!"  
>-<p>

About twenty minutes after Alanna had been enlisted to help her out, Natalie had set the little girl and Carter down for their meal. And now, she was walking up the stairs of the home, and walked right into her bedroom where Randy was laying down in the bed – propped up to see the television on the far wall.

He stared blankly at the television and sighed, raising an eyebrow over at her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I got you dinner," Natalie said softly, walking over with a large plate of noodles and meat sauce.

He stared at it and shook his head softly, "I'm not hungry," he said with a simple shrug.

"I didn't ask if you were hungry, I said I got you dinner," Natalie told him, ignoring the short tone that Randy had given her.

"And I said," Randy spat, reaching out and clutching her wrist, "That I'm _not _hungry," he stared at her, "So, get out of here," Randy snapped, throwing her wrist down.

Natalie watched him for a second and frowned, "Excuse me? Are you going to sit here and be a complete asshole? When you're here? While I'm taking care of your children? While you're injured?" she spat.

Randy looked at her, "While I'm in the house that I paid for?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Taking care of my kids? One is mine, the other one, who even knows," Randy chuckled softly. "In fact, this is _my _house," he told her. "Why don't you get the fuck out?" he asked.

She looked shocked, "What? Oh, wow," she told him before feeling tears well in her eyes.

"You heard me," he said, staring at her. "Why don't you," he said, pointing at her, "And that little bastard get the fuck out of my house," Randy finished.

Natalie froze in her spot for a moment before she reached forward and threw his plate of spaghetti in his lap and slapped him, hard, across the face.

Randy groaned as the heat of the dinner fell in his lap, "Son of a bitch!" he yelled out.

He simply pushed the spaghetti to the floor and due to his lack of mobility, couldn't stand to rid the mess of his boxer shorts.

He snapped his fingers, "Come help me!" he said.

Natalie ignored him and walked around the room, grabbing his suitcase and started to pack her things in it. "Why don't you go fuck yourself," Natalie spat, shaking her head.

"Excuse me?" he yelled.

"You heard me, Randy, why don't you go home and tell Sam that your adorable little tramp is going home," she said. "That you guys can have a lovely marriage, who gives a shit," she said. "I'm going home and you," she said. "Can go sleep with your wife for once."

She filled the suitcase up within record time and went down the hall to Carter's room, packing up a suitcase for him in just as little time. Natalie was seething.

Randy watched her storm off and he shrugged his shoulders, leaning over to his bedside table and licked his lips, grabbing a bottle of vicodin that the doctor had given him.

"Mm," he said softly, reading the label. "Take two, by mouth, for pain, every hour."

He snorted, twisted the top off and poured six pills into his hand.

"Bye, bye, pain," Randy said softly – popping the pills and taking a long sip of his water bottle. Nothing he wasn't used to, right?

The "Evolution" Randy Orton was slowly returning to the world and he wouldn't fight it.  
>-<p>

[Author's Note:  
>My goodness, it's been so long guys!<br>I've been thinking about this all day, I need to find some awesome muse. My twentieth birthday was yesterday and now, I needed to update! (: I love all of you, I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and yes! I hope you loved it – it's gotta have some drama, you know? And I hope you guys know enough about Randy that he's had a very, very rough road! He spoke about drug usage in his DVD and I swear, it's just more to make me love. So, yes guys. I hope you enjoyed it. Four reviews? What do you think about Nat going away? How will Randy handle it? Ah! (: I love you all! – Ashley.]


	12. The Rumble

Irreconcilable Differences

by barry effin gibb

chapter twelve;

The Rumble

"Natalie, now look at me," Cowboy Bob Orton muttered as he sat across from the mother of his son's only little boy. Bob knew for a fact that his son was still very upset about his injury - even though it was built up more than the injury was. The rumors were that Randy would need surgery - six to eight months, but honestly, Bob knew that Randy would take a month off to get over the fact that he was divorcing his wife. And the fact that the woman that he loved, Natalie, had left him in the dirt and took Carter away.

Natalie sighed, almost annoyed as she let her spoon go to the table top of the dirty diner that they were eating at that morning. Bob had invited Natalie out for a meal to discuss what was going on in their lives.

"I have to say," Bob muttered, "I do not know how things were when you left Randy," he told her with a small frown. "But I know that you make him a better man - and one hell of a father," he said.

Natalie sighed, "He was different when he got hurt," she mumbled.

"Well, of course he did!" Bob exclaimed. "Just c'mon, Natalie - I'm here to ask you to come to the Royal Rumble on Sunday," Orton shrugged, looking down for a moment. "Can you honestly just take a night and bring Carter.."

The woman raised an eyebrow, "Why would I go to that? Randy's injured - he's out."

Bob eyed her up carefully before leaning in and whispering softly, "He's returning tonight on SmackDown - he's going to tape a spot where he returns and beats up Wade Barrett, then he's going to be in the Rumble, honestly, Natalie - the show is in St. Louis, it's going to be fine," he said quietly.

Natalie sighed, "Randy hurt me last time," she whispered - remembering the horrible things that Randy had said about herself and that little boy who had changed her life for the better. "And the things he said about Carter? Will never, ever, be forgotten in my eyes," she mumbled.

"He's getting ready to go on the road for the next six weeks, Natalie, do not make it so he can't see his son, okay?" Bob sighed.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope with three tickets for the Royal Rumble - and when she gave him a frown, he explained. "Alanna is going too - and we were hoping you could go and make sure her and Carter are alright."

Natalie sighed and put her head in her hands, "I don't want to talk to him," she said. "That's my one request, Bob…"

"That's fine, Natalie, but please. Randy wants to try, please let him."

Natalie looked down for a moment and shook her head, taking the tickets off of the table top and stood up, "Goodbye, Bob."

* * *

><p>As the arena in St. Louis slowly filled up thirty minutes before the 2012 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Carter Orton nudged his little sister, who he hadn't seen in weeks. "You know Daddy's going to be wrestling tonight, right?" he asked her innocently. "Aren't you ready to see him?" he quizzed. Carter was very excited to be around the wrestling world again, especially since Carter had never been able to attend a pay-per-view.<p>

Alanna nodded her head, "It's fun being here, Daddy usually comes and says hi to us," she told Carter then pulled on Natalie's shirt. "Natalie? Can I have cotton candy?" she asked.

Natalie looked down at Alanna and smiled softly, reaching over and picking the four year old up and placing her in her lap, "Mmm, you are so adorable, baby. Carter? Do you want cotton candy too?" she asked as Carter nodded quickly.

The blonde smirked as Carter heard the music of the pay-per-view go off - and the fireworks going off a moment later. The idea of the cotton candy had gone out the window as the Big Show's music hit. Natalie watched the kids jump up and down trying to catch Show's attention. She stood up and help Alanna on her hip to give her a better view instead of hanging out behind the barricade.

As Big Show walked down the ramp, he spotted the Orton kids and came over, giving Carter his beanie and smiling at Alanna and Natalie, "I know who your daddy is," he teased playfully, ruffling up Alanna's hair before going towards the ring.

Natalie giggled and kissed Alanna's cheek as Carter screamed as he showed off Big Show's hat, "Aha! I got the hat, mom!" he yelled.

They sat down and watched the pay-per-view - watched as CM Punk retained his title and all of the other matches. When CM Punk finished his match, he walked past the kids with his title and gave Natalie a small wink before hoisting up the title up.

As the Rumble started, Natalie and the kids watched intently - all just waiting for Randy's music to hit - and once it did, at number twenty-eight, Voices hit and Natalie felt chills go down her spine. The whole city of St. Louis went nuts as they heard Randy's theme and went even louder when the Apex Predator popped out and walked slowly to the ring.

She felt her eyes freeze on Randy as he moved past them and heard Carter and Alanna screaming for their daddy's attention. Natalie bit down on her lip and watched as Randy slid into the ring and started to work.

About ten minutes later, as Randy was eliminated, Randy slowly walked towards the ramp and passed the trio before stopping and turning back around, looking at the security guard beside them, "Hey," he said, hitting the guard in the arm gently, "These three?" he said, pointing at Alanna, Natalie and Carter, "Can you bring them backstage for me, my man?"

The guard nodded and watched as Randy walked up the ramp and disappeared. Even though she didn't want to go visit Randy, she knew that Carter and Alanna needed to go see their father before he left to go on the road. She sighed, took Carter's hand - adjusted her grasp on Alanna and walked towards the locker room with the security guard.

* * *

><p>It sucked being in his hometown after being "injured" and losing the Royal Rumble. The fact that Randy Orton's family was in the front row, too, sucked even worse. Natalie had been there and he knew that she probably still hated his guts. He sighed and walked back to his locker room and searched for a bottle in his duffle bag - finding his Vicodin and popping about four before tossing the bottle back in his bag.<p>

He turned to see Alanna and Carter, running and grabbing both of his legs. "Daddy!" Alanna cheered, holding him tight, "I'm sorry you didn't win," she cried out.

"You were totally screwed," Carter said with a shake of his head.

Natalie cleared her throat and relaxed in the doorway of the locker room.

"Well, Daddy can't win all of the time," Randy said with a shrug of his shoulders before picking both of them up and kissing their cheeks. "God, I've missed you both…" His eyes trailed up to see Natalie and he gave a small nod, "Hey," he said softly.

Natalie nodded and waved, "Hi. You did good…"

Randy smiled softly and put the kids down, "Thanks," he said quietly.

"Where are you going next, Daddy?" Alanna asked as she played with a spare John Cena hat that had been laying around.

"Um," the wrestler said, looking up in thought, "Hmm, I don't even know, baby. I know it's a new city, though. Not in Missouri," he shrugged. Natalie crossed her arms against her chest.

"Can we go with you?" Carter asked quickly, nodding as Alanna agreed with a 'yeah!'.

Natalie sighed, "Carter, you guys kn-"

Randy bit down on his lip, "Of course you guys can!" he said, seeing Natalie glare at him. "C'mon, Natalie! I've got a tour bus, we could make sure that you all have what you need to get done," Randy said - raising an eyebrow. He was almost begging.

Natalie bit her fingernail nervously as Alanna and Carter both started to beg to go with their daddy on the road.

"You have a place to stay every night," Randy said, moving towards her - "And… we can try to work on us," he whispered, "I'm sorry for what I said," he told her. "Please, Nat… let me have my kids… and the woman I love on the road with me."

The blonde looked up nervous and sighed. "Alright," she whispered, "Fine…"

Randy grinned from ear to ear and picked her up, chuckling and spinning her around.

"Babe," he said softly. "I love you so much, baby, thank you. I just want to have my life on the road with me," Randy laughed.

Natalie smirked gently and shook her head, "Oh, shut up," she smirked. "We'll come for a week," she said. "The kids are going on spring break - we'll be able to take a week - then we'll go home. So make it worth it, Orton."

"Trust me," Randy smiled. "You won't regret this."

* * *

><p>[<strong>Author's Note; Hey there you guys! I am sorry it took so long for me to post more and more of this story. I've got so much stuff going on in real life - but I want to thank all of my loyal readers. This story doesn't have MUCH to go off of - but yeah. The Royal Rumble, what did you guys think, huh? Did you guys see the pay-per-view? And how adorable Big Show was when he told Alanna that he knew her Daddy? Anyways, how about SIX reviews - and more than just "hey, this was good, update?" Tell me what you want to see Randy, Alanna, Natalie and Carter do on the road in the ONE week that they have together on the road? - And what do you think about Natalie letting Randy take them out - was she stupid to take him back? Who knows! There will be a Valentine's Day chapter with Randy trying to make sure Natalie knows how much he loves her.. And by the way, y'all! Happy Valentine's Day… I have no Valentine. Randy Orton is my Valentine. (; Just kidding! Love you all!Ashley!] <strong>


End file.
